Force of Nature
by Willow70
Summary: Sequel to "The Perfect Storm" Spinelli learns something about Talia's past prompting Sam, Lulu, Kristina, and Leila to take a trip so they can put to rest old ghosts. What could possible go wrong?
1. The Package

**Force of Nature**

**Summary: **_Set four months after "The Perfect Storm". Spinelli uncovers something about Talia's past that leads Sam, Lulu, Kristina, and Leila on a path to put old ghosts to rest. What could possibly go wrong?_

**Rating: **_PG-13 for violence._

Okay so I have a question to pose for some constructive criticism.Did the ending songs help or hurt "The Perfect Storm." I am very curios about the response.

**The Package**

6:56 P.M.

September 12th

Leoti, Kansas

Ethan Lovett shifted his attention from the rear view to the small brown package sitting in the passenger seat to the road ahead of him. He wasn't sure why it ate at him so. Maybe it was because he knew that Luke didn't fully trust him or maybe it was because he didn't fully trust himself. This was a simple job. Something a grunt could do so all he could think was that Luke wanted to test him. Unfortunately he didn't know if he was passing or failing. On the one hand, if he didn't open the package that he was asked to pick up for Luke, then Luke could trust him. On the other hand, what self respecting criminal would transport something they knew nothing about? Such a delicate balance.

What seemed to the best course was to open it without letting Luke know he'd opened it. Ethan felt his lips tug into a half smile at that. He could do that. Luke didn't have to know. He'd have to wait til later, but he could practice patience, at least in theory. Ethan pulled into the Old Town Inn's nearly vacant parking lot and parked the SUV next to the truck that Jason had rented. He reached into the floorboard and grabbed the back of supplies he'd been sent after...his cover for picking up Luke's package.

No one knew he was here on business and he wanted to keep it that way. Kristina and Leila had invited him as a friend in an effort to feel less like they were the odd balls out with the other two couples in the mix. He'd wanted to go anyway, but Luke presented the most favorable ulterior motive for accepting. It had been a rough four months, recouping from the warehouse explosion.

Ethan had suffered a back injury that had left him with numbness in his feet. It took two months of physical therapy to regain mobility, and another month and a half to finally get full feeling back. He felt like a changed man...well at least more considerate to the plight of others. Kristina and her new best friend and roommate had been visiting him regularly while he recovered. He'd come to rely on them, to care about them. Despite everything that happened with Kiefer and the level of mistrust the citizens of Port Charles had shown him, despite Kristina's role in that, after the explosion he'd grown closer to the two of them.

There was a part of him that was finally ready to entertain a relationship with Kristina, something more than friendship, but another that was scared to risk their blossoming friendship. While Leila was becoming as much as sister as Lulu was. He was glad that Alexis had taken her in, that she'd been able to stay in Port Charles.

Ethan locked the package in the glove box and pocketed the key before he headed towards the hotel with the supply bag in hand. He bypassed his and Dante's room and instead set his route for the courtyard where a project was underway. He'd never taken Jason for the romantic type, but he had to give it to him, through combined efforts from the whole group they'd managed to turn the already picturesque courtyard into a tropical paradise.

The Inn was unique in a few aspects...the rooms opened both to a front or side walk and then also into the courtyard. There was only a small pool and hot tub, for the rest of the courtyard had been turned into a gardeners miracle, reminding him of pictures he's seen from Italy's country side. He wasn't worried about the clash of tropics meets Italy however as he had no dog in the decorations race. The girls were helping Jason with that. He simply picked up what was asked of him...which was the champagne and napkins.

He knew there was something up, but the giggle squad wouldn't let him and Dante in on the secret and he was pretty sure Jason had been the initiator of the plan. With all his intuition Ethan did have a reasonable explanation for all the hoopla, at least it seemed reasonable enough to him. Sam was nearly six months pregnant and her small frame was showing it more like she was about to pop. He figured that Jason wanted to get a ring on her finger before the kid was born and seeing as how this trip was all about some spiritual reconnection with life, what better time to spring a proposal on her.

He walked into the courtyard to find the others, even Dante, hard at work decorating the place. He had to give them credit too. It was impressive. It looked like they were on an island paradise, the soft stream of island music playing from a stereo that the hotel owner had gladly let them borrow. Tiki torches lit the walk to the pool and flower petals helped to take the urban jungle feel from the concrete pathways. There were three tables set up for dinner all holding candles and beautiful local bouquets while white Christmas lights adorned the nearby trees and bushes to make up for any misgivings from the torch light.

"I got the bubbly!" He held up a bottle as proof as he walked into the festivities.

"Yay!" Ethan widened his eyes in fear as the three girls all gave a high pitched cheer and than advanced on him to claim their prizes.

**ZZZZZZZZZZ**

Sam stirred from her post flight slumber expecting to feel Jason's arms around her, hands delicately protecting her belly as they both slept. It was becoming a common occurrence. She furrowed her brows when she didn't feel him there and quickly – well not so quickly, worked to get herself in an upright position.

"Jason?" Sam called, but there was no answer. She frowned but tried not to worry as she went to grab a bottle of water from her bag.

It had been an interesting 48 hours since Spinelli gave them the news that he'd found Talia's home town, along with her sister. They'd come to let her sister know what had befallen her and to scatter her ashes in a familiar place. It was a way that they could finally say goodbye. With all the nightmares that the group collectively faced it was a welcome idea to the men in their lives. Although there was no way that they were letting them go alone. Hence the escort.

They'd flown into Wichita, and then taken a smaller plane to Leoti, where they'd manage to rent vehicles to get them through the weekend. The one hotel had become their haven shortly after and Sam had promptly managed to fall asleep on the nice enough king size bed of her and Jason's room.

Sam got to her feet and stretched before heading to what felt like her usual hang out nowadays...the bathroom. She primped after a good hand washing and made sure she didn't look too rumpled in her black leggings and mid thigh yellow maternity top. Alright...Jason had to be around here somewhere and if he wasn't than someone would know where he was. Maybe they were out by the pool, it was still semi warm out.

She grabbed a light white shawl from the foot of the bed and wrapped it around her shoulders before she opened the door that led out to the Courtyard. Outside it was mix if greenish skies and sunlight, something so unfamiliar, but eerily beautiful. A shroud of shrubs obscured her view coming off the patio and she had to duck a low lying branch to round the walkway that led from their room to the main body of the courtyard.

Once there, her mouth fell open as she was mesmerized by a breathtaking sight. The courtyard was like a backdrop of some fairy tale in the heart of twilight splendor. Yes there were two inter-clashing themes, but somehow they worked to mingle in beauty from both worlds. She covered her mouth with her scarred right hand in awe as she backed into the area and then turned to get a better look at it all. It wasn't the courtyard that she'd witnessed when they'd checked in, not this had taken work and since there were very few people staying at the hotel she had a fair idea as too who was responsible.

Three tables were set, candles burning, but there was no one there...until... Sam was still turning, getting a good look at all the splendor when she suddenly saw Jason standing at the gate to the courtyard, clad in a black t- shirt and jeans with his leather jacket on for warmth in the cooling air. Sam couldn't help but smile brightly at the sight, a tenderness in her eyes for the effort that had been made.

"Did you do all this?" She knew he'd had help, but just the idea being his made it all him.

"I had some help." He said truthfully, a light smile playing on his lips, growing as he took in her beauty.

"I love it." She promised him as she started in his direction. She could hear a muffled glee of laughter but didn't care as she made her way to him, wanting him to have the moment that he'd tried so hard to make perfect. It was already perfect though. He was here. She wrapped her arms around him and kissed him deeply when she finally reached him, but pulled back when she felt a tenseness in his shoulders that was never there in times like these. "What's wrong?" She asked him softly.

"Nothing, I'm just nervous." He replied, meeting her eyes.

Sam's features softened. "You have nothing to be nervous about." She promised him. "This is beautiful. I love it. I love you."

"I love you too." There were soft whispers all around them and Sam had long figured out that the whole group was watching them from the confines of the bushes but she pushed the thought aside as she focused on Jason.

"You might have something to be nervous about." The voice wasn't someone she recognize and Sam frowned as she looked past Jason's shoulders to four men walking through the parking lot towards them, guns in hand. Sam tensed in Jason's arms and reached for his side arm at the same time he did, their hands clashing on instinct before he pushed hers away and palmed the gun. He didn't raise it, only turned to face them, shoving Sam behind him, protectively.

"What's that?" Jason called. He didn't have any clue who these guys were or what they wanted, but it was clear that this wasn't a normal Leoti welcome.

"We need the package that Elvis gave you." He replied evenly.

"I didn't get a package." Jason promised him. "And I don't know anyone named Elvis."

"One of your buddies does..." The blonde ring leader of the group replied. No one had raised their fire arms but it was becoming obvious that someone was about to.

So Jason did it first. Jason's mind was already racing, trying to figure out what this was all about. Droplets of rain began to fall around them and while before hand he might have begrudged them, he wasn't too terribly upset with them, not more than he was upset that there were men here with guns.

"Look I don't know what you mean. We didn't come here looking for trouble," He replied quickly. "If you'll put the guns away, we can talk this out." They still hadn't taken aim.

"Cut the crap, You guys are all here together. I know he's with you." the blonde leader retorted.

"He who? Ethan?" Jason knew enough to think that it might be Dante that they were talking about.

Sam was just about to speak up in Jason's defense when a strange sound lit the air. It was a siren, but it seemed to come from everywhere at once. It seemed to throw everyone off, except for Jason whose aim didn't waver.

"We'll take this up another time." The guys in the lot promised him and quickly they retreated. Jason puzzled over the move until he heard the voice over the loud speakers that the sirens had originated from.

"_Warning...warning...A tornado warning is in effect..."_


	2. The Bathtub

**Force of Nature**

_Thanks for all of the reviews :thanks: My muse has apparently gone on crack :thanks: _

_I hope everyone enjoys this update and that no one kills me for leaving it where I left it._

**The Bathtub**

Dante was in route from the room he was to share with Ethan, the foliage blocking his view of the scene that had just played out with the gunmen and Jason. Lulu, Kristina, Ethan, and Leila were hiding behind said foliage watching Jason and Sam and Dante was just about to ask them what was up as he could see a mingle of dread and fear in their eyes but the sirens stole that train of thought. Everyone's eyes were cast skyward.

"_Warning...warning...A Tornado Warning is in effect in your area...Seek shelter immediately."_

Years of police training and instinct kicked in immediately. "Ethan I'm going to check with the owner and see if there is an underground shelter for the hotel. Help the girls get the mattress off the bed and angle it over them in the tub." Dante met Lulu's eyes seeing the terror there despite the couple of drinks she'd knocked back while they were decorating. He cupped her cheek reassuringly. "It's going to be okay." He promised her. He leaned in and kissed her softly.

"Hurry back. I can't lose you." Lulu whispered against his lips.

"I'll be back before you know it." He smiled against her lips and then pulled back, reminding himself that they needed to hurry.

"Seriously, the bathtub?" Leila was asking as she looked about in confusion. "Aren't we supposed to get in a basement or something?"

Jason and Sam made their way around the shrubs to the rest of the group, Jason eying Ethan with contempt. The conversation that they needed to have was off limits until they could secure the groups safety, but he wanted to let him know that the conversation was coming. "We need to talk, when this is over," the color was draining from Ethan's face and it had nothing to do with the impending threat of a deadly vortex.

"I'm still a little confused about the while bathtub thing." Leila said as she raised her hand, like she needed permission to speak.

"If there isn't a basement then you get into an interior room, away from windows. The bathtub provides added protection and a mattress covering your head will help prevent damage from debris flying around." Dante explained as quickly as he could. "I was just telling them" Dante turned to tell Jason that he was about to go find the owner of the hotel so he could find out if there was an underground shelter here or not, but she found them first.

"Oh thank heavens!" She exclaimed as she rushed upon them. "You need to go to your rooms. Stanley was supposed to get the shelter in this month but he got behind, so we'll have to make due. Just stay away from the windows."

"Thank you Ma'am, will you be alright?" Dante asked her worriedly.

"I'll be fine, go, shoo." She waved them off as she hurried through the courtyard towards the office.

"I guess it's the bathtubs then." Kristina's voice quivered and Sam instantly wrapped her arm around her sister's shoulders.

"It'll be okay, it's just precautionary. I'm sure the tornado isn't even close to us." Sam hoped anyway, but she had to admit that she was a little weary about all of this.

Five minutes later was quite a sight.

Lulu had swiped one of the bottles of champagne hoping to calm her nerves and she was swigging from the bottle sitting scrunched up in between Kristina and Leila awaiting Ethan and Dante to cover them all in with the mattress. They couldn't move, but as three people had to fit into at least one of the three tubs at their disposal it was decided that it would be the smallest of them all.

"Comfy?" Dante and Ethan carried the mattress into the cramped bathroom. Dante couldn't help but smile when he saw them all wedged into the cast iron and porcelain lined claw footed.

They all three glared up at him. "Do we look Comfy?" Leila asked him as Lulu was a little preoccupied with the champagne.

"One of you looks content." Ethan chuckled and Lulu gave a nod.

They placed the mattress. "Alright, we'll be in the next room over." Dante raised his voice so they could hear him now that they were covered up.

"Be careful!" Lulu called. And suddenly the three of them were left alone in the dwarfed light, confined to the bathtub.

"Does anyone else feel stupid?" Leila asked.

"Just a little." Kristina nodded.

"Weird but not really stupid." Lulu sniffed as she took another swig from the bottle.

"Can I have some of that? It's obviously helping you cope." Leila asked and reached for the bottle, but Lulu pulled it away from her and shook her head.

"Absolutely not, you're under age." Lulu really didn't mind corrupting youth, but she didn't want to share.

"You just don't want to share." Leila called her on it and tried to get the bottle again, though the limited space proved to make it difficult.

Kristina watched the fight with amusement and shook her head at the other two. "I can't believe you two are older than me."

Dante and Ethan headed to get another mattress and then to shut themselves in their own tub. Dante hated to leave them there alone, but they were limited on space and it was the best fit. Dante climbed into the tub opposite Ethan, glad that he had the end without the spout as he drew his knees into his chest and faced Ethan. They then maneuvered their mattress at an angle over the tub.

The awkward silence that followed was...well awkward.

"So, uh..." Dante started.

"We don't have to have a meaningful conversation, Mate," Ethan got out nervously.

"That's good." Dante clicked his tongue against the side of his mouth and leaned his head back against the wall behind the tub.

"Jason are you sure we need to get in the bathtub?" Sam asked when they arrived back in their room. It just seemed like it was going to be extremely awkward, not so much in that she didn't want to share a tub with Jason, more so that getting up and down in a tub at her present level of baby belly was – awkward.

"I think I don't want to take a chance." Jason dropped the full size mattress from the girl's room on the floor of the bedroom and wrapped his arms around her from behind kissing her neck. "Go on and get in, I'll be right there." he didn't want leave her side, didn't want to to have to disentangle from her even if just to collect the mattress, but he finally reluctantly pulled away.

Sam knew they were going to have a problem the moment she slid down the back of the tub and couldn't make room near her feet for Jason. Maybe he could sit under her? That might not be so bad. She could actually get used to that. Sam smiled at the thought of it.

"What's that all about?" Jason caught the smile as he walked the mattress into the room, just the light in her eyes had the corner of his mouth angling up into a half smile of his own.

"I was just thinking about _positions._" She drew the last word out suggestively and her smile grew.

"Oh," Understanding had Jason's smile growing as well. "What did you have in mind?"

"Well I was thinking," Sam's suggestive tone took on one of frustration when she started to move in order to allow him to get in under her. Jason chuckled and offered her a hand, pulling her easily up. She thanked him and resumed the former tone, hoping the spell of the moment wasn't broken. "You could sit under me..."

Jason thought about it a moment and his smile dwindled. "No. I don't want you on top in case something gets passed the mattress."

Sam frowned. "Well that's something I don't hear often." She looked disappointed. "Well what do you suggest, because I can't see how this is going to work otherwise."

"I've got another idea." Jason angled the mattress to rest on it's side against the side of the tub. "Lay on your back."

Sam regained her smile and arched an eyebrow as she sank down into the tub, looking up at Jason. "Sounds promising." Jason watched her wishing like Holy hell that there was not an impending storm, that for once they weren't interrupted and he could have actually proposed to her out there in that courtyard. This whole trip was about healing and moving on with their lives, letting the ghosts from the past rest. And he wanted to do that together with Sam. For the rest of his life.

Jason looked down at Sam, stretched out at the bottom of the bathtub and slowly sank down to join her, easing his body on top of her and pushing slightly to the side so that he wasn't flush on top of the baby. The mattress fell into place at an angle over them as he held himself just up enough to not crush her or the baby. "Will this work?" His breath danced across her neck.

"This will definitely work." Sam took that opportunity to capture his lips with her own as she wrapped her arms around him, pulling him closer.

**ZZZZZZZZZZ**

"_It's in the water baby...It's in the pills that bring you down...it's in the water baby...it's in your bag of golden brown...it's in the water baby...it's in your frequency...it's in the water baby...It's between you and me..." _

In all three rooms the moods were quite different, but all that changed with a howling like that of a train and the concrete shivered from a gale, Autumn's breath. Lulu, Kristina, and Leila's little tiff about the bottle was over as they hugged together and all silently prayed that they made it through this next trial of life. Prayer's turned to pleading and then to tears as a burst of darkened daylight rushed in with the leaving of the roof and suddenly their cast iron protector was blow through the wall and straight at the pool.

"_It's in the water baby...it's in the pills that pick you up...it's in the water baby...it's in the special way we f***...It's in the water baby...it's in your family tree...it's in the water baby...it's between you and me..."_

Jason broke the kiss the moment that the storm hit, the whole room becoming a deafening testament to the power of mother nature. He felt the first sting of debris make it past the mattress and tensed, angling his body over Sam to shield her even more. He felt her hitch in a breath against his neck and smoother her hair down, wishing she could hear a words of comfort. The tub suddenly spun around and broke from the wall mount sending water shooting out from the broken pipes and then raining down on them for a brief moment before the mattress swayed and toppled over covering the top of the tub. They were left in each others arms, panting against each other in the pitch black.

"_Bite the hand that feeds...tap the vein that bleeds...down on my bended knees...I'd break the back of love for you...I'd break the back of love...I'd break the back of love for you...I'd break the back of love for you..." _

Dante and Ethan ducked together as the room suddenly became a fever rush of flying glass and splintering wood and metal, the harsh light of day revealing that they no longer had shelter from above. The protection from the mattress was gone in a heartbeat. They shielded themselves as best they could, hunkering in low, letting the cast iron deflect the dangers that lurked in the wind. When the wind died down and the spatter of rain settled over them they finally began to disentangle themselves from the each other and the tub.

For the most part they were unharmed, scraps and cuts not withstanding. The room wasn't so lucky. Dante and Ethan turned slowly as they saw that their room was completely destroyed, thee whole of the roof torn to shreds by debris – walls – windows. He'd only seen damage like this in pictures or explosions. The shock wore off the moment that they remembered they had to check on the girls. Without a word Dante and Ethan both took off at an all run for the other bedroom, jumping the furniture that had been thrown in their way.

It was when they got to the bathroom though that the real panic set in. The tub and back wall were completely gone leaving a trail of insulated carnage in their stead. They followed the trail all the way to the pool and almost missed it. There in the now choppy water surrounded by the littered remains of the buildings they were meant to stay in for the night was the overturned bathtub, swiftly sinking to the bottom of the pool.

"_I'd break the back of love for you..."_

- Last song - _"Post Blue"_ by Placebo.


	3. The Contract

**Force of Nature**

Thanks for the reviews! I hope you guys enjoy :)

**The Contract**

The swimming pool was absolutely choked with debris, so much so that the bathtub sinking was almost missed. Dante spotted it and without giving it a second thought, dove in. He'd no sooner dipped under the surface than Kristina fought her way to the top, coughing up water as she struggled to stay afloat clearly in a panic. Ethan quickly jumped in after her, getting her struggling form from behind in order to keep her from dragging him under.

"Hey, hey, it's me, Krissy. You're okay." Ethan called over the loud splashing.

"Oh God..." Kristina slowly began to relax in his hold.

"Just calm down." Ethan swam towards the stairs moving debris out of the way along the way, careful to steer clear of glass.

Dante suddenly came to the surface again, holding Leila back against his chest the both of them gasping to get a breath. "Are you alright?" He asked her as she caught her breath and began to swim on her own.

"Yeah, yeah, forget me, find Lulu." She saw that Kristina was alright but realized that Lulu wasn't anywhere to be seen and put two and two together that he needed to find her. Leila quickly began to make her way following Ethan and Kristina to the steps, where they all climbed out and crawled onto the battered concrete.

Dante resurfaced still empty handed and raked a hand to push his wet hair back out of his eyes. "Does anyone see her?" He was bordering on panic still searching the water as he waded there, but there was no sign of her.

Ethan was on his rear end his hands outstretched behind him, supporting him in a sitting lean as he caught his breath. He shook his head.

"Lulu!" Leila took it upon herself to try another venture by seeing if yelling would stir Lulu into calling out for help - something. It seemed like a good enough idea that it caught on quickly.

"Lulu!" Dante made his way over to the stairs and climbed out, his balance a little off as his soaked clothes hung off him, weighing him down.

"Lulu!" Kristina got to her feet, searching the area as she turned.

"Lulu!" As if the other three yelling for her wasn't enough Ethan decided to give it a try as well.

A clink shut them all up as a champagne bottle rolled out from under a nearby 7' bush, followed by a hand thrust out at about 5' up. Lulu clawed at the branches trying to open them up enough to get a good look out. "If you guys are done yelling, a little help here?" She peaked out with a smirk. A few cuts dotted her smooth skin, but she looked no worse for the wear. Everyone breathed a sigh of relief and Ethan shook his head with a good chuckle.

Ethan got to his feet and headed in that direction. She was caught pretty well. It would take some time to disentangle her. Luckily she had a whole group to help make it faster.

"I'm going to go check on, Sam and Jason." Kristina saw that Lulu would be fine and hurried off in that direction to make sure that he sister was alright.

Jason struggled to get the mattress off as it was getting saturated with the water that was spewing from the pipes, but he was finally able to shoulder it off the bathtub get the both of them out. "Are you alright?" He was already checking her over, but he wanted to hear it from her.

"I'm fine." Sam reassured him. "Just a little shaken up. We should check on the others."

"They're okay," Kristina walked through a hole in the wall into the bathroom relieved to see that they were alright.

**ZZZZZZZZZZZ**

St. Mary's Hospital

Darrow, Colorado

Jesus Christ. What the hell had they been thinking?

Justin Cord ran down the winding corridors, bursting into the stairwell at the 6th floor entrance. He grabbed the rail and pulled himself over the edge, plummeting down the middle for three flights before he grabbed hold of the railing and caught himself short, to break the fall. He let go and finished his fall, landing at the parking deck entrance.

God they had no idea, no idea.

He rummaged in his pocket and pulled out his cell phone as he darted into the parking deck checking frantically in every direction as if he suspected that someone was going to jump out of the shadows at any moment. He dialed the number as he was moving and also fumbled to get his car keys from his pocket. "Come on come on come on come on."

"Luke Spencer." came the answer he was waiting for though it did nothing to alleviate his true terror.

"M-Mr. Spencer, thank God. Listen I know about the package, the one you were transporting for David Bennet. The cargo is being pursued by a competitor and it's important that you understand what it is that you're carrying."

"I'm not sure where you're getting your information from, but I'm not carrying anything." It wasn't a lie, not really, considering it was Ethan that had it, but Luke felt fear snaking into his veins. "Lets entertain that I know what you're talking about. What so special about the cargo?"

"The canister contains an experimental chemical, something volatile. The competitor just offered a twenty million dollar reward for an intact package. The announcement went out to the whole network. People are going to be crawling out of the wood work to come after this thing. They're already after..." He was about to me, but the word died in his throat just as he reached his car as a bullet burst through his chest tearing his heart apart.

Luke paled as the sound of the shot rang in his ear and he realized what had just happened. Oh he was going to kill David. Luke hung up the phone and quickly reopened it, dialing Ethan's number. "One little package, he said." Luke muttered disgruntled to himself. "We'll be even, he said."

**ZZZZZZZZZZ**

Sam picked up a stray maternity top that had been skewered by a tree branch and frowned. This wasn't going to work. She didn't have anything left to wear. She sighed as Spinelli finally picked up the phone.

"Fair Samantha!" he exclaimed excitedly. "You must share the sublime journey of tranquility and healing that had transpired."

"Not exactly what we were expecting. Do you think you can look at the weather for our area and let me know what the outlook is for tonight and tomorrow?" Sam dropped the shirt and continued her search for any clothes that she could salvage.

"You shan't have to inquire a second time, the Jackal's services are at your disposal." Sam heard typing in the back ground and then a sharp breath. "Oh, my."

"Yeah, it's been a little rough." Sam's gaze lit on a piece of pink fabric over her head and narrowed her eyes seeing that one of her tops was hanging from a tree branch high over head. "So what's it look like? Will it be clearing up any time soon?"

"I'm remiss to inform you that it will not. There are converging storm fronts that will be hampering the area until well after midnight tomorrow night." Spinelli did sound disappointed to have to be the bearer of bad news.

"Well at least we have an idea of what to expect now. Thanks Spinelli." Sam got off the phone with Spinelli and started her search anew. "Oh!" A black bundle was near the SUV in the parking lot and she prayed that it was her favorite top. The SUV had nearly been flattened and half it's contents were blown all over the parking lot.

She passed a crumpled and open brown package on the ground on her way to the top and reached down to pick it up, her hopes so high. She frowned when she realized that it was one of Jason's t-shirts but then paused when she felt something rolled up in it. Sam unwrapped a metal cylinder and gave a it once over quizzically before she noticed the crack running down it's side and the dark red liquid that was leaking out of it. "Ugh." She dropped it and looked to see that both her palms were soaked in the stuff.

What the...

**ZZZZZZZZZZ **

Ethan had so far managed to avoid Jason in his pursuit to find what he could of his belongings. He dared not head back to the SUV, he didn't want to lead Jason straight to the package. He frowned though when he heard his cell go off and quickly answered seeing that it was his father.

"We're fine. Lulu was stuck in a tree but we managed to get her down." Ethan figured that he had seen the news or that he was calling about the package, he had a fifty -fifty chance of guessing right. There was a long pause.

"This sounds like quite a tale." Luke marveled. "But it's not why I caused. I'm glad that you and your sister are alright, though. Listen. Do you have the package?"

"Of Course." Ethan replied evenly.

"Alright. Listen to me closely. Someone put a 20 million dollar contract on the package. There will be people coming after you. As much as it pains me to admit this, should their intent be murderous, I would suggest simply giving it to them." Luke would risk it, he would risk it all, but he wasn't going to ask Ethan to do the same thing. He wasn't going to ask him to put his life on the line that way.

"Are you kidding me?" Ethan scoffed. "You want me to just hand it over? We can collect the 20 million ourselves."

"Only if you live, Son." Luke pinched the bridge of his nose as pain radiated through his skull. "Remember you're not the only one there. You want to risk Lulu's life? Kristina's?"

Ethan was listening now, albeit not happily. "I can go off on my own, lead any takers away from them." He offered.

"You're still going to have contractors coming out of the nooks and crannies after you. I don't like this any more than you do, but you need to get rid of it. There will be other pay days, but this one is a bust." Luke warned him. "Do you understand?"

Ethan let out a breath in frustration but finally nodded. "Yeah, I get it, I'll get rid of it." Ethan finally promised.

"Get rid of what?" Jason walked up on the tail end of the conversation.

Ethan's eyes widened in fear as he looked to the hit man nervously. "I'll call you back." Ethan told Luke and quickly hung up on him. "Jason, I didn't see you..."

"Get rid of what, Ethan?" Jason demanded.

"Nothing."

"Bullshit."

"I was just talking to Luke about something in..."

"Where is it?" Jason wasn't buying it for a second.

"Where's what?"

"Are you really going to make me do this?" Jason pulled his gun and checked the clip.

"You're not going to shoot me." Ethan scoffed, though the look in his eyes said he wasn't so sure of that.

Jason adjusted his aim and looked him in the eye, so that he knew he wasn't bluffing. "Four men just came calling with guns, looking for a package that they think someone in our group has. You're over here making mysterious phone calls to you're dad who just happens to be an international criminal. Your sister, my family, were all at risk, hell they still are for all I know, so do not test me," Jason warned him. "Where is the package?"

Ethan swallowed tightly but finally caved when he realized just how serious Jason was. "It's in the glove box. But I just got off the phone with Dad, There were complications."

Jason frowned but lowered the gun. This just kept getting better and better. "What sort of complications?"

"Luke said that someone put a contract out on the package. 20 million." Ethan was half expecting Jason to take aim again, instead he took a slam to the jaw, his head snapping to the left from the strength of the punch. Jason steadied him and then slammed him into the wall behind them.

"You brought this down on all of us. If anyone gets hurt – if anything happens to anyone I will kill you." Jason promised him, damn his ties to Luke. He'd just put a target on all of their backs and now they were going to have to run, in the middle of the storm from hell, just to stay alive.

"Luke and I already decided to drop the package." Ethan explained hoping to alleviate some of Jason's worries. Jason almost punched him again but dropped his fist at the last minute.

"Whether you have the package or not, everyone thinks you have it. Dropping it now won't do you any good." Jason warned him. "It would work if you hadn't already been made, but you have. We all have." Jason finally dropped him. "Gather the others, we have to go." Jason ordered him. "When I get us all through this alive, you owe me." He motioned for Ethan to follow. "What was in the package?"

"I don't know." Ethan replied evenly. "I really don't." He reiterated as Jason looked back on him in disbelief. "Luke never told me just not to open it. I was going to anyway later, but I never got the chance to." Ethan explained.

Jason took the lead with Ethan following, he headed through the courtyard with purpose. Everyone had to know what was going on if they were all going to make it through this. They weren't going to tell them all out in the open though. They needed to get on the road first. Jason knew that they wanted to see Talia's sister and he would make sure that happened but right now living was more important. God he could throttle Ethan.

**ZZZZZZZZZZ**

"_Something ugly this way comes...through my fingers sliding inside...All these blessings all these burns...I'm godless underneath your cover...search for pleasure, search for pain...in this world now I am undying...I unfurl my flag... my nation helpless...Black black heart..."_

Dr. Edward Landers walked a slow pace to the cell at the end of the corridor, his eyes roaming over a chart so thick that it's weight stiffened his hands. There was a lone guard, clad completely in stark white, only dulled by the dimly lit light of the windowless prison. "How is she today?"

"Same as ever." came the reply nonchalantly. The Doctor gave a nod and opened a small window on the door to have a look in. There inside the small room, standing on her cot was a middle aged woman drawing frantically on the walls with a black crayon.

"I'll be in the observation room, looking through the recordings." Dr. Landers explained before heading into the room next door to the patients.

A two way mirror separated the patients room from the observation room. Dr. Landers sank into the seat by a desk inside the dimly lit room and opened the file, ready to write his notes. He set a tape recorder down as well and turned it on.

"This is session 1, 789... Evelyn Grant confirmed contaminated in 2001. Subject seems excited by a new male figure, wearing black and blue with short cropped blondish brown hair. Make a note to look through potential applications for a person matching the description."

"_Why would you offer more...why would you make it easier on me...to satisfy...I'm on fire...I'm rotting to the core...I'm eating all your kings and queens...all your sex and your diamonds..."_

Ethan found the empty package before they left, but even after a thorough search the contents were lost. Jason didn't think it would matter. He convinced them to at least get on the road, to find another place to stay for the night. Ethan wondered when he was going to tell them, how Dante would react. God if the hit man didn't kill him, Dante might offer to arrest him. Although as far as he knew he wasn't doing anything illegal when he picked up that package...Why was he waiting to fill them all in? Did he want to spring it on them at the right moment?

"_As I begin to lose my grip...all these realities your sending...taste your mind and taste your sex...I'm naked underneath your cover...Covers lie and we will bend and borrow...with the coming sign...The sign will take the sea will rise and time will..."_

Sam snuggled against Jason's shoulder as he drove them towards the next town over, her eyes so heavy that she couldn't even entertain the idea of staying awake. No sooner was she drifting than haunted dreams began to play havoc with her...

"_Black black heart..."_

- Last song " Black Black Heart" by David Usher ( slow version)


	4. Deja Vu

**Force of Nature**

Thanks a bunch for the reviews so far.:thanks: I know I sort of sprung an extra update last night. I promise that Sam isn't going to lose the baby, just wanted to toss that out there in case anyone was worried. Also this story seems be taking a different sort of turn ( I blame the muse :P ) So anyway – hoping to hear from you guys and that everyone enjoys this update. Let me know whatcha think.

**Deja vu **

Luke paced his office, drink in one hand, phone in the other. "No one puts out a 20 million dollar contract on a single package. Nukes go for less than that...hell I could take a flight on a shuttle for less than that...I want to know what was in it." He paused listening to the ramblings on the other end of the phone and then let out a loud scoff in disbelief.

"You sanctimonious Son of a..." Luke cut himself off and took a swig from his drink. "Yes, I owed you my life. I did not owe you that of my son and my daughters. Now, what the hell was in that package?"

There was another pause as Luke closed his eyes in frustration. "Then find me someone who does know, David. I was picking it up for you. Now you're going to tell me that we're just at the end of some never ending pipeline of couriers all in the dark? Who sent you on this wild goose chase?"

Luke set his drink down and took a calming breath. This was a train wreck. What made it worse was that he hadn't seen it coming. He needed to know the players so that he could talk Ethan out of this should a pass off of the package not be possible. "Alright, I'll start there." Luke hung up the phone and grabbed his suit jacket off the back of the office chair behind his desk. He was on the move in a heart beat, pulling it on and then dialing once more.

"I need a flight to Raleigh. Work that magic."

**ZZZZZZZZZZ**

Unadulterated chaos. That's what it felt like. She'd been nestled against Jason, the lull of the road and the soft conversations floating around them as they drove towards Hudson, It was an hour away from Leoti and hopefully fairing better than it's neighbor. It wasn't just that she'd woken up in a hotel room, no that would have been easily explained. Pregnancy + tornado = exhausted Sam and she could explain it away in that Jason had taken it upon himself to carry her to bed.

That she would have been able to explain.

Instead she woke upright, standing in an unfamiliar bathroom, water dripping down her face and she was panting at the mirror fearfully. She felt the fear before it should have even sunk in. Her whole body was already trembling with it when she 'woke'. Sam heard the door to the room open and jumped.

"Sam?" Jason asked hesitantly.

"In here." Sam popped out of the bathroom, still reeling. What was this? Did she lose time? Was this what that felt like? She'd heard the term, but never really imagined what it could be like.

Jason rounded the corner towards the bathroom and paused seeing the lingering fear and trembling, her paling complexion. "Whoa," he quickly placed steadying hands on her arms. "What's wrong?"

"It's nothing, I think I was just sleep walking or something." Sam couldn't really think of another explanation that didn't scare her to death so she was going with that for now. "So are you going to tell me why, other than the tornado, we had to get out of dodge?"

"Yeah. I wanted to tell you first." She frowned seeing that it was weighing heavily on Jason. "Luke sent Ethan to get a package. Someone's put a contract out to collect the package now and it could get bad."

"How bad?" Sam marveled worriedly. God, what else could go wrong?

"The price on the contract is 20 million." Jason met her eyes as the severity of the situation sank in.

Sam's eyes widened and she covered her mouth in horror. "20 million? Are you sure?"

"That's what Luke told Ethan." Jason nodded, placing his hands on his hips as he adjusted his stance nervously.

"Well, what is it?"

"Ethan doesn't know, said that Luke didn't tell him. I'm about to call Luke, see if he can give me any more to go on." Jason sighed in frustration. "So the guys that made the group at the Old town Inn, they had to have known what cars we were driving, there are traceable leads, the trucks a rental. It can be tracked in real time. The only thing we have going for us it no one knows what are plans are and now that I know we're going to be hunted I can try and stay a step ahead of them, but..."

Sam blinked rapidly as her vision began to distort and then suddenly...

Sam jumped awake. She sat bolt upright, hands going instantly, protectively to her belly as she blinked in the dimly lit room. It was the room she'd just been in, but now she was in the bed, lain on top of the covers. Terror gripped her heart tight as she swung her legs over the side of the bed and got to her feet, looking to the bathroom, where the light shone from a half open door.

It was a dream?

Sam made it to the bathroom shakily and splashed some cold water on her face, feeling as if she was losing it. It wasn't until she looked in the mirror though that she really entertained the idea. It was how she remembered seeing herself earlier, the water dripping down her face, fear and trembling.

Sam jumped, hearing the door to the room, thud against the wall and looked to the open bathroom door in bewilderment.

"Sam?" Jason asked hesitantly.

"In here." Sam's voice wavered as she slowly peeked out of the bathroom to see Jason looking just as he had a moment ago. She had to be cracking at the seems, coming unglued? PTSD?

Jason rounded the corner towards the bathroom and paused seeing the lingering fear and trembling, her paling complexion. "Whoa," he quickly placed steadying hands on her arms. "What's wrong?"

"I um...I think a dream – maybe." Maybe this was all some coincident. She'd been half asleep when he'd carried her in and she had made up some crazy story about a package because everything was so jumbled with the scare with the tornado. After all why wouldn't Jason call her name if he came back to the room and didn't find her in bed. Her subconscious knew that. "So why did we have to leave so fast?"

"Actually I came to talk to you about that. I wanted to tell you first." Sam wasn't going to let the similarities between the conversations scare her yet. Jason was obviously upset though and it was unsettling her more than she could let on."Luke sent Ethan to get a package. Someone's put a contract out to collect the package now and it could get bad."

Sam swallowed tightly. "20 million?"

Jason narrowed his eyes. "Yeah. How'd you know that?"

"I swear I feel like we've already had this conversation." Sam sank into a nearby chair to keep her legs from giving out on her. "Luke never told Ethan what was in it and your worried about the rental car."

"Y...yeah. Sam I haven't said anything to anyone since I talked to Ethan. Did you over hear us in the courtyard?" Jason asked worriedly as he knelt next to where she was sitting so he could meet her eyes.

"Maybe, I don't think...I don't think I did. I just it was like a dream. Like we were standing right here talking about all of this." Sam finally shook her head dismissing the idea. "That must be it, I overheard you too and didn't realize it and my subconscious put the rest of it together. I'm sure that's what it is." Sam gave him a watery smile, still trying to convince herself that what she said was true. "So what are we going to do? Steal a car? Lay low?"

Jason watched her closely but soon gave a nod at her explanation. "I need to call Luke and see what else I can find out and then I do have an idea."

"Okay well what is it?" Sam had a bad feeling the moment he hesitated.

"Ethan made a good point about leading the contractors away from the rest of the group, but the kid wouldn't survive one night alone that way. I think the rentals and Ethan and Me are the only real leads anyone has – everyone else should distance themselves from us, let me get whoever is coming off our backs and then we can regroup."

"Are you sure that they don't know about the rest of us? That we're all a group? Because if you're not sure and you separate us you leave the rest of us open to be used as bargaining chips." Sam cautioned. She didn't like the idea of separating, but if Jason really thought that the rest of them wouldn't get caught in the cross fire it was worth considering. Sam wasn't so sure though. "I mean I was right there when those thugs came out to find Ethan. They saw me too. They might already know what Ethan looks like from when he picked it up and we know that they know what we look like and then there are the records for the rentals, Dante's name was on one of them. Then there are the lo-jacks. I think we may all be stuck in this for the long run, Jason."

"We need new transportation. Maybe we can fly the group out to the island once the weather clears and let this all die down before we resurface." Jason realized how hopeful he was that he could draw the danger away from the group, but Sam was right.

"I like that plan better." Sam smiled softly. "Spinelli said that the weather wasn't going to let up til tomorrow night, so we just have to wait it out til then."

**ZZZZZZZZZZ**

Dante headed down the hall to Jason and Sam's room, a tote bag in hand full of clothes that he and the girls had picked up at a local store down the street. Something wasn't sitting right with him. Tension were running too high and Jason wasn't telling him something. His agenda for dropping the clothes off was two fold, find out what Jason had to hide and provide the whole group with something to wear aside from the drenched clothes they'd come to town with.

They'd left the other rental with but a scarce message to the rental company sighting what had occurred and it's location. Dante sighed. At least everyone was alright. Things could have been a lot worse. He rapped on the door and frowned when Jason opened it, while on the phone.

"Just a sec..." He told the person on the phone. "This isn't a good time, Dante."

Just then Sam crossed the view from the door on the phone. "No, just change the names on the rental forms and see if you do something about the Lo-jacks. Yeah, yeah, that sounds great."

"Something wrong?" Dante wasn't about to leave now. This definitely didn't sound legal. Jason let out a breath in exasperation.

He turned back to his phone call. "I'll have to call you back. Yeah – you too." Now Dante had his full attention. "Come on in." Dante gave a nod and walked into the room handing the bag to Jason as he watched Sam pace across the room again.

"Sounds serious," Dante made a simple observation as Sam was doing nothing to cover what she was asking Spinelli to do.

"It is." Jason replied evenly.

"Mind filling me in?" Dante slid his hands into his pockets waiting for an explanation.

"No... just look into any uniform rentals that match the colors of the following hotel chains..." Sam started rattling off names of hotels in the immediate area and Dante frowned further, looking to Jason expectantly.

"Luke sent Ethan to get a package for him." Jason started and Dante was already shaking his head in disbelief. "Someone put a contract out on the package. It's worth 20 million right now. Which means there are a lot of people looking for it."

"I cannot believe you guys dragged us all into this. Where is it now?" Dante's tone took on a mingling of shock and anger.

"We think it was destroyed when the tornado hit the Old Town Inn. But Ethan, me and Sam had already been made by some of the contractors by then. They retreated when the sirens went off. They've probably got you in their sights as well since your name was on the truck."

"And you didn't think to tell me about this until now? We need to go into police custody for protection." Dante already had his phone out which Jason quickly grabbed.

"We're not going into protective custody Dante, think about it, what sort of people does 20 million dollars bring out?" Jason met his eyes, holding his phone at arms length while Dante mulled it over.

It took a moment and Dante licked at his lips, looking down, realization sinking in deep. "The best."

"There is no way that the police or even the FBI can protect us from what's coming. Our best bet is to wait out the storms and then go into hiding while Sonny and Luke get this sorted out. I just got off the phone with Luke. He's headed to Raleigh chasing a lead about the package. He's going to try and get the contract pulled due to it being destroyed, but a lot of people aren't going to believe that unless they see it themselves and they would rather shoot us all than trust us."

"I understand that part, I do, what I don't understand is why you didn't tell me anything until now? I would have been a lot more careful." Dante was livid.

"Because I needed to know more about the situation..."

"You should have told me! I just swiped my credit card at that store down the street!" Dante retorted heatedly.

"Why? I gave you guys all the cash."

"I was trying to earn frequent flier miles to take Lulu on vacation next Summer!"

"Frequent flier miles?" Jason couldn't believe this. "Sam, we need to go..."

But wouldn't you know it, at that precise moment, the Hudson, Kansas storm sirens began to warn of another tornado.

Sam froze where she was, phone still tucked to her ear and she looked to Jason and Dante worriedly. Jason looked ready to throw something and Dante didn't look much happier. They had two choices. Go to the hotel basement and wait for assassins to come pick them off, or load up in their new SUV rental and head into a raging storm.

**ZZZZZZZZZZ**

"_Dead as dead can be...my doctor tells me...but I just can't believe him...ever the optimistic one...and I'm sure of...your ability...to become...my perfect enemy...Wake up and face me...don't play dead...cause maybe...someday I will walk away...and say 'You disappoint me.'...maybe you're better off this way..."_

Dr. Edward Landers had been watching countless hours of videos of Evelyn drawing, but now his focus was solely on her current project. During his current session he had shifted his focus several times, from the soft sing song like meandering that she placated herself with when the sun shone through the small one tiny skylight that rested nearly 20 feet above the cell floor. She would rock in the corner for hours, singing in her own little language and he had yet to decipher it.

It was always changing always a little different. Now, fear was trudging into his heart with a caravan of thundering elephants as he watched her latest picture unfolding. It was childlike, yes, but there was meaning behind it. The one male that he'd referenced earlier on the recorder was now holding a gun, a gun with smoke tendrils wisping up from the barrel. That recently fired gun was pointed directly at another man, one that looked frighteningly similar to Dr. Landers' own likeness. One that was now depicted with a gaping hole in his chest.

Dr. Landers was turning three shades of white as he watched her draw it, panic setting in deep. She was so ever seldom wrong...

"_Leaning over you here...cold and catatonic...I catch a brief reflection...of what you could and might have been...It's your right...and your ability...to become...my perfect enemy...wake up( we'll catch you)...and face me(come on now)...don't play dead(don't play dead)...Cause maybe(because maybe)...someday( someday I'll)...walk away...and say...maybe you're better off this way..." _

Dante, Jason, and Sam had gathered the rest of the group and now were walking down the hallway with purpose as they headed to the basement, having told the others only what they needed to know. Sam checked the clip in her gun as did Jason before they both slid them down the waistbands of their new clothes.

Dante checked his own clip while Jason took his throw away and tossed it to Ethan. He caught it with ease and checked it over himself before hiding it in his own waistband. The seven member group entered the elevator and pressed the button for the basement, silence reigning as tension hung heavy over the group. The elevator slowly descended towards their destination...

"_Maybe you're better off this way..." _

- Last song "Passive" by A Perfect Circle.


	5. The Basement

**Force of Nature**

**The Basement**

The last thing Sam remembered was leaning her head back against the elevator's back wall, waiting for the bell to ding to let them know that they had reached the lowest floor of the building.

And suddenly...

Sam looked up from the where she was kneeling down next to a laundry cart, gun now in hand. A shot suddenly whizzed past her and she screamed – jumping back in the opposite direction at least as best as one could who was kneeling. She shielded herself behind the laundry cart, her heart beating triple time.

What the holy hell...Sam looked down the length of her body her hands combing over the baby there as she felt tender moments of time slipping past them. Confusion was a close second to cold terror as she dropped her clip to check her ammo and then reinserted it, hoping the soft clicks didn't alert them about her current...Sam felt a shot slam through her chest and flew backwards gasping for breath.

Sam came to in the elevator in a panic, reaching for a gun that was no longer in her grasp as she pushed off the back wall and ran straight into Kristina. Kristina in turn slammed into Ethan and everyone turned to Sam in worried wonder.

"S- sorry," Sam whispered out as she whirled looking about frantically.

Jason turned worriedly and caught Sam, by the elbow, steadying her.

"What's wrong?" He asked her quickly and it was clear that he was worried about her and the baby.

Sam sucked in a breath, trying to calm down. God these dreams...

"I'm sorry...I uh...it was a dream." Sam assured him, praying that's all it was – hormones and trauma on overload. "I'm okay." she promised them all. The elevator dinged their arrival and Jason hesitated as everyone else filed off. "I'm fine...really." She promised him. Jason met her eyes for the longest moment before he let it go for now. She knew they were going to talk about it more though when they could all breath easy.

"Alright...Lulu, take Kristina and Leila to the main area for the guests...we'll meet up with you." Jason promised. Lulu looked back at them worriedly but didn't question it as she shuffled Kristina and Leila off in that direction. It left the four of them there.

"They can come from the elevators, the stairs, the laundry, or the ventilation."Jason was pointing out to the rest of them. Sam frowned thinking about the laundry cart.

"I think they're coming through the laundry." Sam whispered quickly.

"It would be easier to come by stairs or elevator." Dante didn't agree.

"Yeah it would be easier, but they also know that we'd expect that if they've done any sort of homework on who we are." Sam explained. "So if they want to do this quiet and without taking out half the hotel they'll come down the laundry shoot or through the air ducts." Sam explained her reasoning.

"If they want to keep it quiet. We don't know whose coming. For all we know they could care less who gets caught in the cross fire or how many people go down. " Dante offered the other side of that coin.

"It could go either way, so we need to cover all of the bases." Jason interjected.

"I'll take the stairwell." Ethan offered and Jason have a nod in approval.

"I'll take the elevator – the stairwell is close so Ethan and I can cover each other." Dante wasn't really asking but Jason gave his agreement with a nod.

"Sam and I will take the laundry and all I can say about the ducts is to watch for any signs that someone's crawling around in any that are near you." Jason left it at that as he placed a supportive hand on the small of Sam's back and they started down the hall.

They walked in silence until they reached the laundry room. Jason's back met the wall behind the half open door and he readied his weapon – aim set for a head shot.

Sam weighed her options. To say the 'dream' was effecting her judgment was an understatement. She could still feel the slam of the bullet, it tearing it's way through her chest, the inability to breath. What scared her even more, was that the room was laid out exactly the way she saw it.

And yet She'd never been here.

It was a large laundry room for a hotel this size, 4 laundry carts were scattered about the room as well as large washers and dryers mounted all along the wall that was situated across from the lone door. Large metal tables served as folding surfaces and were spaced in rows with large gaps between them in order to facilitate enough room for the carts to be pushed through. Feeding into a large bin was the central laundry chute and it was on the far East wall at a right angle to the last washer and dryer mount.

Why would it look exactly like a dream she just had? Sam looked at the floor where she'd been kneeling in her dream – she couldn't possibly kneel there, not knowing, feeling what could happen.

Sam felt like her world was taking a surreal nose dive into 50 foot swells.

Jason narrowed his eyes as he split his attention between watching the hallway through the small slit between the door and the jam, watching the metal laundry chute, and watching Sam floundering to find a place to lay low. Something had been off with her since she'd woken in the hotel room. He wasn't sure if it was the stress of the situation taking it's toll or if there was something more frightening to be concerned with. Either way, once he got them out of this She was going to take it easy. They'd get her checked out make sure that she and the baby were alright, that the trauma hadn't caused any unforeseen problems.

He wished that this wasn't happening at all, that he could spare her this. For now all they could do was survive it. But God he would give anything to take all this away, to give her a real vacation that didn't end in destruction and violence. He watched as she finally decided on a place to the right of the chute and she knelt there, unable to really crouch. If he'd been able to convince her to stay with the others in the main body of the basement he would have felt a lot better, but Sam was ready to fight for her life and the life of their baby and there was no force on Earth that was going to change her mind. And yet he'd still tried.

Sam caught Jason's eye and gave him a soft smile. It was all for show, because she felt like her sanity was taking hits left and right. What was happening to her? How could she make it stop? Sam looked to her belly worriedly, how could she protect her if she didn't even know what was happening? These doubts were so new, so terrifying. She prayed that the elevator was the last offense to her senses, just some freak thing that happened and she leaned back against the wall behind her, waiting for an attack that she hoped never came.

**ZZZZZZZZZZ **

Raleigh, N.C.

Delphi Institute

Luke Spencer walked into the Delphi Institute's medical research hospital wearing an ego the size of Mount Everest. Selling the con required confidence in the persona and the persona was Chief of Medicine. He'd had to go a little overboard what with the short notice and it just so happened that he bore a striking resemblance to the Delphi Institute's Chief of Medicine.

A little make up and a mole on his cheek and he was convincing enough. The beige fedora and glasses helped as well and as an added bonus they went smashingly with his suite. Luke passed the front desk without pausing for clearance as his version of a chief would never do.

"Good Evening, Dr. Gregory." Luke tipped his hat in response to the receptionists buying of his clever disguise and made his way to the elevators smiling all the way. He selected the button for the basement and quickly turned the camera jammer in his pocket on. God bless the Internet, he'd found a floor plan for the institute en route. What he needed was the records for the project that had make the Delphi Institute from something of a dream into a reality.

David had sent him to the man who had requested the package in the first place. So Luke went to see Mr. Chapman - a man that had supervised the very first project that the Delphi Institute undertook. What he took away from the conversation was quite interesting.

Oddly enough the original project wasn't that successful. The results were apparently amazing, sci-fi freaky amazing, but at the cost of the health and sanity of the patient. Since the original project – Project Delphi – it had changed hands to more than 13 different subsidiaries of the Delphi Institute. Chapman kept up with it's progression as a personal task.

Then two weeks ago, the newest lab to get the sacred task of trying to work the bugs out of the Delphi project's baby, Oracle, burned to the ground, with all of the lab team working on the project inside. It was billed as a horrific tragedy, but to Luke it had cover up written all over it. Chapman had arranged for a sample of the newest version to be delivered to him via David who had outsourced the work to Luke and he to Ethan. Chapman said that he had nothing to do with the fire at the company. He was convinced that someone from the original program was trying to control the use of Oracle.

And thus why Luke was at the Delphi institute. Chapman had secured original documents from the first project and hidden them in the wall of the records room, hiding in plain sight. It was the only surviving record of everyone involved in the first project and they needed it to find who put out the contract on the package.

Luke walked down the basement corridor towards the records room and looked to the camera at the end of the hallway. It should have been feeding static to the security room. He then regarded the ingenious delight of a coded key pad lock before him. He had the code in 3 minutes but frowned that he was losing his touch.

Luke found the panel and reached into the dark crevice there to retrieve what he thought was simply a file. What he found was a box, full of vials of red liquid. Underneath the box was the manilla file. Luke's bad feeling was graduating to full blown panic as tucked the box and file into his suite. What in the hell had he gotten them mixed up in? Chapman had better not be playing him. He was feeling rather used at the moment, but dammit if it got Ethan and Lulu out of this mess than Chapman could use him.

**ZZZZZZZZZZ **

Sam had gone from kneeling to sitting as the time ticked by, leaving them waiting for nearly half an hour on pins and needles. "Maybe their not as smart as we gave them credit for." She scoffed as she readjusted her position. It also meant that whatever had happened in the elevator was some fluke of her worn out mind. She was breathing a little easier feeling her confidence on her sanity growing. Relief.

"I'm hopeful, but there are 20 million votes disagreeing with you." Jason whispered, then grew silent once more. Sam hated that he was probably right, but she could keep hope alive.

Sam heard a small metallic thud and stiffened meeting Jason's eyes as she motioned to the laundry chute. Jason was on the move, carefully placing his footfalls to keep from alerting the enemy where he was as he repositioned himself to have a better shot on the chute. Sam was likewise readjusting her position, when...

She was holding tightly to Jason's upper arm, wrapping a bandage around it as he drove. It sounded like something was pounding the hell out of the truck they were in and there was yelling from...Sam looked out the back window to see Ethan, Kristina, and Leila in the back of the truck, trying to cover themselves from the dime sized hail that was crashing all around them.

"Get it tighter, Sam." Jason was saying as Dante was trying trying to pull a somewhat drunk Lulu back in the cab through the window.

And then...

Sam came back to reality with her hands in the position to take care of Jason's arm and found that she'd dropped her gun. Jason was rushing towards her as bullets flew through the room. Jason fired two shots into a man that had come down the chute and taken cover behind a metal table and then fired another shot into the chute when he heard another metallic thud.

Jason then grabbed Sam and yanked her backwards pulling her behind him before he walked the both of them back, kicking her gun along the way to keep it with them. He finally set her down next to the laundry basket that she'd seen in her first vision – dream thingy and he kicked her gun towards her.

"Stay here."

He was back up and aiming at the chute again, moving in that direction and Sam felt the blood drain from her face as she realized that the man who'd been shot behind the table was still alive. Sam wrapped her fingers around her gun and quickly scrambled backwards so that she could get a shot on him. She managed a lone head shot just a breath of second before he was too pull the trigger with the shot lined with her chest.

Jason kept an eye on the chute but was shifting his gaze back to her for a fraction of a second at a time. "Are you okay?" He called out.

"Fine." She got out shakily, both of them poised to fire on the chute again, should there be more of them. After a few more moments Dante and Ethan came bounding into the room, taking in the one gunman behind the table and the other that had landed at the bottom of the chute.

"We're going to have to get out of here before the police get involved." Jason tucked his gun away and looked to Sam worriedly. "Sam, I need to know what's going on with you? You are the scaring the hell out of me and do not tell me you're fine. You dropped your gun in the middle of a gun fight and just sat there. You could have been killed."

"We can talk about it on the go." Sam struggled to her feet. "Unless you want to wait for the police." God she wasn't even sure where to begin to try and explain this to him – she didn't even know what was going on herself. Jason reluctantly gave in and they were on the move once more. They had to much to do to stop and talk.

Dante and Ethan went to collect Lulu, Kristina, and Leila while Jason and Sam went to get their limited stash of belongings. Spinelli had somehow fixed the Lo-jack on the truck so they didn't have to change vehicles.

"What's going on, Sam?" Jason asked as they walked toward their room.

Sam paused for a long moment before she could even think of how to describe it. "I keep getting these flashes, like I'm somewhere else, and then a little while later it actually happens or sort of happens. A little different but mostly the same."

Jason stopped and turned towards her in disbelief. "Sam," he groaned as if she was giving him the run around or winding him up.

"I'm not making this up, I..."

"See the future?" Jason finished for her – both his eyebrows raising to accompany the scoff in his voice.

"Well when you put it that way..." Sam replied defensively. "Yeah it sounds insane, but it's happening. And I am not making a joke, this scares the hell out of me too. I was patching up your arm in the truck while I was supposed to be in the gunfight in the laundry room and Ethan and Kristina and Leila were in the back of the truck and it was hailing and Dante was having to deal with Lulu cause she was drunk and sticking her head out the window."

Jason was looking more and more worried the further she went, tears mingling with the fear behind his eyes as he raked his hand over his mouth, pausing at his chin, taking a breath. Jason finally looked back up but couldn't meet her eyes. "We'll just...You should get some sleep on the road, we'll figure out what to do soon."

"Jason," Sam felt her heart sinking as she realized he thought she was losing it. Sam grabbed his arm pleadingly. "Please I am not making this up."

"I know, I know you aren't." Jason reassured her and that was worried him. Sam realized that he truly did think that she was losing it. Her face fell as she fought back tears. God, maybe he was right.

**ZZZZZZZZZZ**

"_Fear in me so deep...it gets the best of me...in the fear I fall...here it comes, face to face with me...Here I stand...hold back, so no one can see...I feel these wounds...step, down...step, down...step, down...Am I breaking down...Can I break away...push me away...make me fall...just to see another side of me... "_

Dr. Landers raced into his office and pulled his glasses off, clearly horrified. He picked up the phone, replacing his glasses and then dialed Deacon Grant's number. He paced nervously as he waited for him to pick up. Landers exhaled in relief when he heard his greeting instead of the machine. "It's Dr. Landers from..."

"I know who it is...Why are you calling me?"

"It's... I think we have a problem." Landers sank into his desk chair and leaned heavily forward. "You're mother's drawn my death. I think someone's on to us."

"_Push me away...you can't see...what I see...the other side of me...fall back on me...and I'll be the strength I need...to save me now...just come face to face with me...stay in place...you'll be the first to see...me heal these wounds...step, down...step, down...step, down...Am I breaking down..."_

The hunted had regrouped and headed together to the parking lot, Dante having discovered that Lulu was still a little tipsy from her exploits earlier. They walked towards the truck, quietly and quickly all understanding that they needed to get out of town as soon as possible. Rain battered down as they walked out into the open from the canopy drive through of the hotel lot and suddenly a hail of bullets erupted from out of the night.

"Run!" Jason motioned them towards the truck as he pulled his gun, Dante and Sam did the same while Ethan tried to get the girls to the truck. Everyone fired on the move, but visibility was so poor that no one's shots were connecting with their target, happily not even the attackers. Jason helped Sam into the truck as Dante helped Lulu and Ethan rushed Kristina and Leila into the bed of the truck, so that they didn't have to struggle to get everyone in as they did earlier.

It wasn't until they were in the truck cab and speeding away that Sam noticed that Jason's arm had been grazed...

"_Can I break away..."_

- Last Song "Downfall" by Trust Company


	6. Hail Storm

**Force of Nature**

Sorry to leave everyone hanging on this one for so long. I'm going to be posting regular updates here again too. Just took a little breather on it for a bit when "The Long Road Home" came to mind. Thanks for all the reviews so far and I really hope that you enjoy where this story is leading. I know it's a little weird but hopefully you guys are enjoying. Let me know :)

**Hail Storm**

"What, he can't pull over so we can get in the cab?" Leila lay on her back in the bed of the truck, eyes closed as rain drizzled down over her, Kristina, and Ethan.

"I'm sure he will, once he's sure we no longer have a tail, otherwise we could all get shot." Ethan cautioned.

"Why are they after us. I know you guys keep saying that you're going to explain it to us, but so far all I've heard is – later and tornado sirens." Kristina threw out there, raising her voice so that she could be heard over the wind.

"Luke sent me after a package that he didn't know was hot. They want the package." Ethan explained.

"Well, just give it to them!" Leila opened one eye and angled her head so that the rain wouldn't fall into it and so that she could get a good look at Ethan.

"I can't- it was destroyed in the Leoti Tornado."

"You can't just tell them that?" Kristina asked in horror.

"They won't believe me and then they'll probably torture all of us trying to find out where it is." Ethan knew the moment that he said it that it wasn't the right thing to say as Kristina and Leila gasped in horror and then as if the rain wasn't enough the real water works started. "No no..that's not going to happen...Luke and Jason are working us a way out of this. Everything's going to be fine."

Ethan breathed a sigh of relief when his phone rang as if it saved him from any other sort of reassurance while the girls cries dwindled to fearful snubs. He'd been lucky that it was the one thing that did survive when the SUV was flattened.

"Hello?" He had to shout over the wind and the rain as it was picking up.

"I found out what the package was!" Luke called out, trying to get through the roar of the road and storm that greeted him around his son's voice.

"How does that help us now? It's gone, it's not like we can bargain anything." Ethan yelled back. He frowned when he felt something hard pop him on the back of the head and oh how that frown deepened with the small ball of ice tinked against the metallic bed between Kristina and Leila.

"Don't be so thick," Luke chastised. "No one knows it was destroyed and now that I know what was in it we can fake it, fake a hand off, fake whatever we need to in order to get you guys out of harms way." Luke called back.

Ethan felt another thwack as realization dawned. He was so thrown off his game with all the weather and the gun fights...He let out a cry when something slammed into his back and then rolled off revealing a large golf sized piece of hail. "Holy..." Leila and Kristina let out a cry as well as their fear over what might happen to them from the people chasing them gave way to panic and pain from being pelted with hail.

"I'll have to get back to you." Ethan closed the phone and slid it into his pocket quickly moving to shield Kristina and Leila from the falling projectiles as more and more fell from the sky. He clenched his jaw, trying to fight the pain from the bombardment as he slammed a fist against the cab back window to get the others attention.

They needed cover and they needed it now.

Sam jumped at the sound of the hail slamming against the back of the truck and then Ethan slamming a hand into the window as if asking for some sort of help.

"It's snowing!" Lulu exclaimed excitedly and Sam was still reeling that she'd seen all of this before.

"That's not snow..." Dante wasn't fast enough as Lulu had to see for herself and stuck her head out the window in anticipation of catching a snowflake. Dante was quickly moving to drag her back into the cab to save her from injury as Sam wondered just how much champagne she'd had while they were waiting out the storm in Leoti a few hours back.

Lulu didn't catch a snow flake...no...she caught a chunk of ice to her forehead just as Dante managed to yank her back into the cab. "Bad Snow!" Lulu was chastising the hail as she rubbed her forehead.

"It's hail, not snow," Dante said worriedly as she quickly made an effort to check out the newly forming goose egg on her forehead. "We have to find cover before they get hurt!"

"I know! I know." Jason got out through clenched teeth. He checked the mirrors again and suddenly spotted a dirt side road to the right that lead to a hill side full of trees. "Hang on!" He yelled loud enough so that Ethan and the girls could hear him in the back. Jason took a hard right and heard screams from the back as all three of them slammed into either side of the truck bed, bounced and then hit the floor of it once more all while the hail rained down over them.

"Jason hurry!" Sam whispered out frantically as she looked out the window to see if she could see if they were alright.

"I am..." He promised her as he crested the ridge of the hillside and the truck dove down the other side, throwing the crew in the back crashing into the cab back with another cry into the night. The beams of the headlights cast light dancing over a thick grove of trees off the road and Jason took to the field, racing towards the cover. As soon as he entered the tree line and drove the truck far enough to hide it from any line of sight he cut the lights and put it in park.

Dante and Jason threw the doors open at a rush, hurrying around the back of the truck to make sure everyone was alright. At first glance it wasn't looking very promising. Ethan was practically passed out on top of Kristina and Leila, his body positioned the best as it could to cover them as much as possible.

"Help him!" Kristina was crying worriedly as hail crashed through the trees all around them, but it wasn't near so thick as it had been a moment before as the branches helped to toss the hail off in other directions. The idea was to get enough cover from trees to get them all into the cab and then to hit the road once more, somewhere off the beaten path.

"Are you alright?" Dante asked Kristina and Leila as he and Jason pulled Ethan up and dragged him back towards the cab.

"I think so." Kristina got out in a wavering trembling voice. Leila simply gave a nod.

It took a few minutes to get the half conscious Ethan squared away as best they could in the back of the extended cab with Leila and Kristina. Sam was measuring every breath, trying to hold it together as more and more seemed to be spinning out control.

People didn't see the future...it was an impossibility! It was some sci-fi novelty cooked up for added entertainment in fantasy plot lines. Or...or...secret government experiments like on "X-files" or "Fringe". Fiction, pure fiction. It wasn't reality, it wasn't. Sam ran trembling hands over her belly as Jason slammed the truck door and put the truck in drive, heading back out into the night.

It was hard to deal with more than one crisis at a time so Sam fought to push her inner turmoil and confusion aside in favor of making sure that everyone else was alright. Thank God Ethan had shielded Kristina and Leila, but now they weren't sure about Ethan's well being. And Jason...Sam hadn't bandaged his arm yet and he couldn't take time out to do it himself with all the emergencies.

"Oh look!" Oddly enough it was Lulu who pointed it out. "A house!" It was a miracle that she caught it in the distance. There were no lights to give it away. It sat lonely and hollow in the midst of the storm on a lone flat orchardish landscape. It took a streak of lightening for the rest of them to finally see the two story beauty. Jason immediately set a course for the place. It looked like an old Victorian farm house that had weathered the long cold years alone slowly falling apart.

"As long as it keeps out of the weather it looks perfect." Dante let out a breath as he looked back to Ethan to see him stirring – a little more alert. "Get everyone checked over..." He looked to Lulu. "Sobered up..." and then to Sam. " Some rest...maybe we can figure out where to go from here."

"Yeah...it'll be nice to take the break." Jason agreed as he pulled the truck to a stop near the front of the overgrown lawn.

"_It took eight years just to realize...no one looks when we say goodbye... dying just to survive ...it feels like the first time... all the things that you set aside... all the friends that you leave behind... just so the curtain will rise... and it feels like the first time... take this heart... its beating like a cheap clock..."_

Battle worn and weary in the night so drowned with promises. Dante carried a half conscious Lulu into a mostly bare bedroom, glad to see that there were still a few pieces of furniture littered about the place. The place was weather beaten and falling apart, but it was sturdy enough for now to provide enough shelter for them to recoup. He repositioned his flashlight on the floor so that he could maneuver without trying to fumble with it and Lulu.

A single old fashioned looking fainting couch served as the focal point to the bedroom and Dante gave it a kick to make sure it was sturdy enough to provide support without collapsing under his girlfriend. When he found that it was he heaved a sigh of relief and gently set her down. She mumbled something unintelligible as she curled up and drifted back off while he tenderly brushed a few of her golden locks lovingly from her face.

"_Oh...I need you to believe in me... til there's nothing left of us...Oh...I need you to believe in me... Oh. My. God...We were under the skyline... through the sirens and flashing lights ...tell me there's no reason to try any more... doesn't mean that much to you... At that moment when time stops ...all at once see the pressure drops ...way in the back of my teeth... I knew that we all could make it...take this heart it's ticking like a time bomb."_

Ethan hissed out a breath as Kristina apologetically helped him out of his shirt so that they could survey the damage from the hail storm. They found a couch in a den off from the main living room and now She sat behind him, tenderly prying his soaked shirt off his arms after Leila had unbuttoned it for him. They could already see the deep whelps of purple and red showing through the fabric. Kristina hissed with him, empathy running rampant as she took in more and more of the blood blisters and raw flesh.

"I'm going to find another candle." Leila whispered unable to look at his back and the pain crossing his and Kristina's features. She needed a moment alone anyway to collect her thoughts. God what else could go wrong?

"_And I'm not running anymore...I'll stand and face it all...I'll fight for every breath...until there's nothing left of us...I need you to believe in me...God." _

In the kitchen, Sam sat in a chair at the small table there, right beside Jason, first aid kit strew across the table as she quickly worked to bandage up the graze wound in his arm, candle light glistening from the center of the table. They worked in silence for the longest while doubts and fears lying between them. Sam felt Jason tense as she gently placed a piece of medical tape over the gauze and she swallowed tightly. "Sorry."

"No, It's okay." Jason got out softly. Sam looked away tearfully feeling as if it was anything but okay, but Jason caught her chin and turned her back to face him. "Tell me."

She met his eyes with quivering lips. "Tell you what?"

"What's happening? What do you see, Sam?" Jason implored her, trying to believe.

"_I need you to believe...til there's nothing left of us..."_

_-Last Song "Believer" by Kill Hannah_


	7. Sleep Running

**Force of Nature**

Thanks so much for the reviews so far! I hope that you guys enjoy :)

**Sleep Running**

Sam felt a surge of adrenaline mix with rapid fire shock riddled heart beats as she looked to Jason before her. To say something was wrong would have been the understatement of the century. He was breathing heavy, labored, looking right through her.

"Jason?" It escaped her in a whisper. He didn't answer her, only took a breath to look down the length of his body to his thigh where a dart that looked like it was shot from a tranquilizer gun protruded from his leg. "Oh, God, Baby...what happened?"

"What did you call me?" Jason growled out rage and loath dripping with every questioning word. Sam's eyes widened in fear and she took a step back, hands roaming protectively over her belly.

"Jason? What's wrong?" Sam took a step back and realized that they were in an alley, her back meeting the brick wall of one of the buildings they were situated between.

"Quit trying to play mind games with me." He screamed.

"Guys we gotta go." Dante stuck his head in the alley from another side street and looked like he'd already been going somewhere pretty fast and for a while now. He was out of breath, looking about fearfully.

Two things happened in rapid succession.

First, Jason pulled his gun from the waistband of his jeans and aimed at Dante in the blink of an eye.

Second, Sam scrambled seeing the murderous intent in his eyes and wrenched his aim away just as the shot was fired, the bullet narrowly missing Dante. She didn't get a chance to do anything else though as Jason's elbow connected with her chin and sent her reeling back into the wall, off of him.

Dante, who looked about as confused and scared to death as she felt took a running go and tackled him.

"GO!" He yelled at Sam, not sure what the hell was going on, but wanting her out of there before Jason went after her or him again.

Agony of throbs tore through her head as she clamored to her feet and took off at an all out run in the direction Dante had been headed. She was only a few feet away when she heard the gun shot and turned just in time to see Jason running after her. Sam's eyes widened in horror and she took off running once more, screaming as bullets tore through the alley all around her. Oh. God. Had he killed Dante?

What the hell?

She rounded a corner to the right and caught sight of Ethan and Kristina stopped talking, Leila and Lulu a few feet behind them.

"RUN!" Sam screamed and then as if to show just why they needed to another bullet whizzed past her. They didn't need to be told twice. The whole group took off at a run, springing through the alley without even looking back to see that it was their friend that was coming after them.

**ZZZZZZZZZZ**

Jason was half asleep, taking turns with Dante, keeping watch over the group. They had just switched out and Jason was trying to lose himself to sleep for a bit. He's settled Sam on a couch with Kristina and had found another sofa in an adjoining room. It was the sound of the back door that brought him around fully. Jason sat up and quickly got to his feet heading in that direction. He passed a sleeping Kristina on the way but didn't see Sam. That got him moving fast.

Jason walked through the kitchen seeing the screen door now flapping in the wind and rain. "Dante?"

"What?" Dante was just walking into the room, gun in hand, checking out the noise as Jason was. "Who went out?" He asked worriedly.

"I don't..." Jason walked to the door, looking to see if he could make out anything in the night. Suddenly a flash of lightening illuminated the field beyond and they both caught sight of Sam running as fast as she could into the woods. Jason didn't say a word before he bolted, jumping off the back porch and racing in her direction.

He didn't know what was going on, if she was being chased, if she was having another vision quest thing, he didn't care, he just had to get to her, make sure she was alright.

"Sam!" Jason called as he ran. A flash light beam lit the night ahead of them as Dante joined him, rain soaking them to the bone as they ran.

"RUN!" He heard her scream out, raw terror dripping from the word and he didn't think it possible but he quickened his pace.

"Sam!" Jason and Dante called it out in unison as they dodged trees and bushes in an attempt to catch up with her. God she couldn't run like this forever, She was pregnant for God-sake.

**ZZZZZZZZZZ**

Ethan groaned awake on his stomach, wishing the moment that he roused that he hadn't, pain was like an ugly slap of the storm settling in on him all over again. He cursed his ringing phone, but picked it up. "Yeah?" He groaned into the phone.

"Why haven't you gotten rid of your phone yet?" Luke asked him in exasperation.

"You know the thought just didn't occur to me considering I've been involved in two tornadoes, a hail storm, and a couple of gun fights all since dinner." Ethan hissed back as he realized that his father was right. If they had anything on the phone's they had his number at least. "I guess we better make this quick."

"The package was a drug called Oracle. I'm tracking who wants it, but it's some weird trippy crap that makes the person on it think they see the future before driving them insane." Luke explained. "I think I have some of the original formula, so maybe we can pass it off as the latest thing. "Alright look – stay off any phone and just meet me in Wichita, at the Grand Hotel bar tomorrow night at 9:00."

"Alright, I'll see if we can make it there, but no promises." Ethan hung up the phone and then opened up the back, pulling the the SIM card out and then crushing it in his hand before flopping back to try and get back to sleep.

**ZZZZZZZZZZ**

Sam hit her knees in agony as a bullet tore through her thigh. Kristina heard the scream and turned but Sam was shaking her head. "Get her out of here!" She yelled to Ethan as Sam pushed herself over onto her ass and scrambled backwards, looking up at Jason as he descended on her, gun aim for a head shot. "Jason, I don't know why you're doing this, but think about the baby...please, think about the baby and just look at me...this is not you...it's not you...you don't want to kill me!" Sam pleaded with him.

Suddenly she was no longer looking up at Jason through the alley way, into hatred filled eyes. She was looking up at Jason bathed in the light of a flashlight as sheets of rains soaked them. Jason and Dante were standing over her, both so winded that they were fighting to catch their breath. She suddenly realized that it had all been in her head and she crumbled in sobs.

"Sam I would never hurt you." Jason was saying in horror that she had any concept of him doing such a thing. "I don't know that you think you saw, but I would never..." He looked wounded to the core of his being, yet scared to death at the same time.

Dante was just confused, trying to put together this puzzle together with so little to go on. He could understand the weather and the fact that they were being hunted for a package they no longer had, but this was something completely different. Was Sam losing it? Obviously, Jason knew something about this that he hadn't shared with the rest of the group and now Dante felt anger well up, if they didn't know what the hell was going on, something like this could definitely get them all killed.

He kept his mouth shut for now though as he watched Jason slowly approach Sam as if to show her that he meant her no harm and then quietly wrap her in his arms, pulling her into his before he started back towards the house. Dante started after them, shining the flash light to show them the way back.

Sam turned her face against Jason's chest, letting him help her back to the house as she wrapped her arms around him. She felt like whatever trust could be had in these visions had to have been shattered by the last one. Because just as he was saying she couldn't believe that he would go after her like that. Why? And what the hell was that dart in his leg? What happened? Was it real? Was it going to be real? What was real? Was this real? Sam couldn't find the words as she walked numbly back towards the house with Dante and Jason.

**ZZZZZZZZZZ**

"_You're waking up...A part of me I've never known...And I've never felt...So invincible...What took you so far away?...You're lost for tonight again...That's what you wanted?...Your arms to your side again.."_

Dr. Landers sat in his office head in his hands as he heard Deacon Grant's last orders playing through his head once more. "I...I...I...can't." He said to no one in particular, his voice wavering in fear. For all the horrendous things that Evelyn had been through, the descent into madness, her son's indifference, His own experiments. He'd still taken care of her.

Dr. Landers closed his eyes for a brief moment before he looked to the syringe on the desk top. He licked at his lips nervously. Evelyn had been given the first version of Oracle and she was far from alright, but now Deacon wanted him to give her another dose so that she could find his now missing new version of the strain. Something that Landers could only guess he wanted to use on himself or some other puppet to peer into the future for him. Another dose could kill her. Sure, her visions would be clearer for a few days but then...

Landers shakily picked up the syringe. He knew that Deacon would kill him and have someone else do it and he didn't know what else to do. He had never hated himself so much as this one moment. Landers made his way into her room, syringe in hand...

"_Just take away the words I say...Cause I know...That you don't feel the same...Just go and say...What's in your head...And I won't try to stop you...You hold the rights I'll never own...And I've never felt...So alien...Don't tear us apart again..." _

Luke walked into Chapman's office with the folder in hand, the vials now securely stored away somewhere safe. He wasn't about to trade his bargaining chip before he found out what the hell was truly going on and this guy hadn't just sent him after some files, not with a whole box of this shit sitting around in some hiding place for decades.

He could see Chapman's head risen just over the crest of the back of the chair, turned facing away from him as the man looked out the window. "Sir, I don't truly know what you were sending me after, but I'm not about to be some pawn in this game. My son and daughter's lives are at stake now and I want the real truth..."

There was no reply, no movement, nothing and Luke had a horrible feeling now as he approached. His hand was trembling as he touched the back of the seat and slowly turned the chair so that he could see his face. Luke cringed in disgust as he turned the seat to find Chapman shot dead in his chair but then froze in fear as he heard a gun cocking at the back of his head...

"_What is the use of it...We're ok it's nothing ...It's all chemistry of a car crash...And I won't try so you'll...stay...This time...I won't try...And I won't change...This time I won't try...To stop you..." _

Dante watched Jason watching Sam. She'd passed out nearly the moment they were back in the house and he'd had to help change her into something dry. Now the both of them were working on drying their clothes pieces at a time, standing shirtless as Jason sat beside Sam, gently stroking her hair back.

Dante kept his voice low as he met Jason's gaze finally. "I think it's time we had a talk..." It was time Jason told him what was going on with Sam, before they all ended up dead.

_-Last Song "Chemistry of a Car Crash" by Shiny Toy Guns_


	8. Past, Present, and Future

**Force of Nature**

_I rewrote it. Yay! This was such a pivotal chapter that rewriting it was daunting so that's why it took me so long. Yeah we've had a couple of bad storms already this season here at the tail end of tornado alley. I am so glad that everyone is alright here too – thanks for all the well wishes and the wonderful reviews. I hope everyone enjoys this update. I can't wait to hear what you think. _

**Past, Present, and Future**

Ethan sat up with a grimace as he heard voices in a haze. He'd never really gotten back to sleep what with the commotion that had come in the back door and now he could hear the muffled conversation from the kitchen. 'Screw it,' Ethan climbed to his feet, wincing at the pain that went through his battered back.'Sleep obviously isn't happening.' He headed into the kitchen and paused giving a shirtless Dante and Jason a quizzical glance with a shake of his head.

"We're drying our clothes," Dante was the only one who felt compelled to answer that look.

"Whatever, Mate." Ethan shrugged and sank into a chair at the table there. "I talked to Dad."

"When?" Jason asked as he pushed himself off the counter, arms crossed over his chest. "How did he get a hold of you? And please tell me that you swapped out your phone." Jason looked ready to bolt.

"I destroyed the card, no one is tracking it." Ethan replied evenly.

"When did you destroy it, Ethan, while we were sitting here? Because if the phone's been on this whole time then..." Jason walked across the room and grabbed his still soaked shirt. "Why am I having to explain this to you? You should know better."

"I've had a lot on my mind or haven't you noticed?" Ethan replied defensively.

"Hey!" Dante interjected to try and calm the growing tension, but it didn't quite work.

"We've all been going through this, not just you, the difference is we wouldn't be in this mess if it wasn't for you. The storm yeah, but being hunted. And now you make a rookie mistake..." Jason looked from Dante to Ethan angrily. "We can't stay here."

"Fine, whatever, but do you want to know what Dad said or not?" Ethan got to his feet.

"What did he say?" Dante was the one that voiced his interest.

"He said this stuff – the chemical in the package. It's called Oracle. It makes a person think that they can see the future until it drive them insane. He's said he's got one version of the compound and he's going to try and pass it off as this new version. He wants us to meet him in Wichita tomorrow night."

Dante blinked at him. He and Jason had just been talking about what had been going on with Sam. Jason had explained that it seemed as if Sam had been getting flashes that were coming true. Dante had argued that under the circumstances dreaming about being shot at and storms seemed like nightmares that could seem like foreshadowing but he couldn't believe that they were in actuality flashes of the future and he could see that Jason was struggling to believe it as well. It sounded though like Sam had been exposed to this stuff.

"So Sam – she must have..." Dante swallowed tightly as he turned to Jason.

"Wait, what?" Ethan asked in confusion.

"Sam's been exposed to the stuff." Jason's voice was choked with emotion. He slammed his hand into the nearby counter, trying to blanket his anger and frustration. "You're telling me it's going to drive her crazy?"

"How did she..." Ethan trailed off in horror. "I don't...Dad didn't go into a whole lot of detail."

"Did he say if there was an antidote? A cure? Something?" Jason rushed out.

"No, just to meet him in Wichita." Ethan was floundering, trying to understand what they were talking about. "How do you know she was exposed?"

"She's been having hallucinations or day dreams or something." Dante spoke up. "She thinks she's seeing the future."

"She was right about what happened though." Jason defended her.

"Jason, it can't possibly work that way, not really."

"Someone disagrees with you. Think about it. Someone is willing to pay 20 million for it." Jason was gaining momentum hope returning in droves. "And why would they pay that for it if the end result was insanity. There has to be something that can be done, because seeing the future isn't profitable if it drives the person meaning to profit from it insane..." He reasoned.

"Unless..." Dante frowned, trying to entertain it from all angles. "Unless they weren't planning on using it on themselves. If they could control someone else who had taken it, they could just lean on them for information."

Jason's face fell once more.

"So...that means that Sam just became the actual package." Ethan pointed out grimly. "And the baby..."

"They don't know that! And we don't even know how it could effect the baby..." Jason retorted as he slipped his shirt on on the move. "We need to move – now!" He couldn't think about it now, if he thought about it now than Dante would have to stop him from killing Ethan and Luke for bringing this all down on Sam and their child.

**ZZZZZZZZZZZ**

"This isn't going to help you get your magic potion back!" Luke slammed his hand against the tiny window of his padded cell in frustration. So far this ass hole had told him a big steaming pile of nothing. He'd been picked up by some no neck muscle at Chapman's – knocked out and woken to find himself changed into scrubs in some dark lit sanitarium looking cell. He couldn't even really see that far down the darkened hallway.

They had to be underground or else there just weren't any windows. The air felt damp though and he really did get the feeling that he was under ground. Luke have the viewing window another slap as though it was really going to help in some way and took a step back in frustration. God, How was he going to help them from in here.

Where the hell was here?

**ZZZZZZZZZZZ**

Sam woke with a start and frowned, looking about the unfamiliar room. What the...It was a windowless cell. She looked worriedly down the length of her body to the scrubs she now found herself in her belly tight against the other wise loose top. Was this another flash? Sam licked at her lips nervously taking in her surrounding in growing fear.

She turned slowly, taking in the bland walls, the pictures, the viewing window, the 20 ft. skylight, the worn rocking chair in the corner, the lone cot...Sam stopped though when she saw what looked like a picture of Jason holding a smoking gun on a bloodied man in a white lab coat. Sam walked to it slowly and gently ran a finger over the crayon in shocked wonder. What was this place? There were so many other pictures and numbers and it was like technicolor chaos jumped together to make some nightmare child's doodles. She furrowed her brow though as another picture caught her attention.

It was the house. Shadowed dark with a red truck next to the lawn and an arrow, pointing to a room upstairs. Why would their be a picture of the dilapidated Victorian farm house that they'd happen to find on a stormy night while they were being hunted in this room that she had never seen before. Sam felt a shiver go through her and suddenly she was being shaken awake...

Sam blinked up at Jason who looked half ready to run. "I'm sorry to wake you," He told her softly. "But we've got to go...You can try to go back to sleep in the truck if you can...we'll find another place to lay low."

"Why do we have to leave?" Jason helped her sit up and then get to her feet.

"Someone might have been able to trace my phone here." Ethan explained from where he stood with a half asleep Kristina at his side.

"It's just a precaution." Dante seemed to be trying to keep everyone calm as he stood side by side with Lulu and Leila, Lulu wincing in the dim candle light as her head was obviously paining her.

"I still say that they would have already come by now if they were tracking it." Leila sighed.

"The storm could have held them up." Dante retorted.

"Look it doesn't matter, a mistake was made and we need to get somewhere safer than this. I don't want to risk getting stuck here in a fire fight." Jason replied evenly.

"We can't go yet..." Sam looked to the staircase leading up into darkness that haunting crayon drawing in her dream or flash or vision thingy playing through her mind.

"Sam, the faster we get out of here, the better off we'll be." Jason looked like he was ready to just sweep her off her feet and whisk her out the door.

"I know, but you don't understand. I have to look up stairs. I saw..." Sam didn't know how to explain it, how to tell him that she'd woken in what looked like a crazy persons room to see a picture of him killing someone and then a drawing of the very house that they were in with an arrow pointing to the East upstairs bedroom.

"Sam, what did you see?" Jason asked worriedly.

"I can't explain it, but just give me a moment, we can leave just as soon as I look in that room." Sam promised him.

Jason exchanged a glance with Dante and then Ethan as Leila, Lulu and Kristina looked on in confusion. Finally Jason made the decision. He didn't want to drag her out of here and if this was the only way that she was willing to leave then they could wait a few more minutes. "Alright. I'll go with you, but lets hurry, okay?"

She nodded and they started up the stairs. Sam didn't rush, for there was something that felt so surreal about this moment. Something not quite right, yet in the right direction and with all the doubt floating through even her own mind about her waning sanity she was half afraid to see what was in there. There was a part of that was even more afraid that there would be nothing...

Jason walked with his arm draped protectively around her, leading her to the closed bedroom door, feeling her fear vibrate off her as surely as he felt his own heart hammering in his chest in worry for her and their child. He watched her shakily reach for the door knob her uncertainty and fear taking front stage before she finally drummed up enough courage and she turned the knob simultaneously pushing the door open with a hard shove.

Both of them gasped at once...Jason tightening his hold around her as he was unable to tear his gaze from the far wall right across from the door. It was shock that allowed Sam to finally pull out of his protective grasp as she strode forward in wonder, mouth slack and open in confusion and awe. Their collective reaction was so strong that it prompted those that were on the first floor watching them over the bannister to join them in the door way all of them slowly filing into the room.

There scribbled against the peeling wallpaper and rotting timbre's in bright white paint was a note, cast against the wall themselves...

_Hi guys,_

_Don't think that this isn't weird for me. It's – well it's a long time ago. I know we must know each other now, but not yet at least for me. Sam, I know you think that you're going crazy, but contrary to popular belief not everyone does go nuts from Oracle. _

_I didn't._

_I need to you to know that I couldn't have stopped this. I never saw how, but I did see how to help. So first off – She'd not crazy. She really is seeing the future and so am I. Which is how I knew you would all be in this house on this wonderful stormy night. Dante lighten up, we can't understand everything. _

_Ethan's phone is being tracked and you have maybe 30 minutes before they'll be there. So you should hurry after you read this. Luke isn't going to be able to meet you guys in Wichita because he's been captured, but he's alright for now. You should find him later, if everything goes as planned. _

_Sam your dreams and visions should be getting more concise and you'll start seeing farther out. Dreaming is more productive than the visions you have when you're awake. So pay attention more to your dreams. Not everything you see will happen, because everything that you see is altered by all the decisions you make, so react carefully. _

_That's it for now. Sam you should get another clue soon. _

_Good luck guys. You'll need it. _

_I'm sure I'll love ya later,_

_Talia _

_P.S. - When you see my mother, Evelyn, tell her I never stopped loving her._

**ZZZZZZZZZZ**

"_No more gas in the rig(Can't even get it started)...Nothing heard nothing said( Can't even speak about it)...All my life on my head( Don't wanna think about it)...Feels like I'm going insane Yeah!..."_

Evelyn smiled softly, the other dose of Oracle coursing through her blood as she lazily drew a new picture next to the man with the gun. Dr. Landers knew that the drug just needed time to work, surely he would see something soon. He sighed and took his glasses off, tired of looking at the dark house and red truck she'd been drawing for the better part of an hour.

He was trying to ignore the guilt, but it wasn't working. Deacon had long ago become a monster, but he still felt power less to stop him. He sighed once more when he heard the yell from down the hall. God he wanted a muzzle for this new guy that Deacon had brought in.

"Hey! Hey!" Landers heard the thwacks against the window set in his door. "I'm telling you this is not the way to get your hands on your precious package!"

"_It's a thief in the night to come and grab you...it can creep up inside you and consume you...A disease of the mind it can control you...It's too close for comfort..."_

Deacon leaned back at his desk thumb rolling slowly over the faded picture in a frame before him. It wasn't a loving gesture, far from it. He'd rolled his thumb over her face so much that one could barely make the fading edged of Talia Marrow's face. Finally he slammed it down on the desk top. "You are not going to stop this even from the grave." He whispered in frustration.

Deacon grant had coveted his sister's ability from the moment she'd obtained them, the one host to Oracle who hadn't gone insane. It had taken him years to isolate which strain she'd received and now that it was finally within his reach he felt as if it was constantly being ripped from his grasp.

An evil smile slowly played across his lips. He had 20 million reasons though that this was finally going to work.

"_Throw on your break lights...we're in the city of wonder...Ain't gonna play nice...watch out you might just go under...better think twice your train of thought will be altered...So if you must falter be wise...your mind's in Disturbia..." _

Silence hung heavy over the shell shocked group as they drove swiftly through the night, looking for shelter in an out of the way no where that they would be afforded a few hours of peace. Sam was still trying to wrap her mind around it, still trying to piece it all together, but she was so tired and so much had happened that every time she picture another word that Talia had written on that farm house wall her brain simply muddled through it.

It wasn't much better for the rest of them. Even Jason who wanted to believe in Sam had his faith shaken to the core. It wasn't just her that he had to believe now it was the ghost of the woman who'd they'd come here to put to rest her memory. Things were getting deeper by the second...

"_Feels like I'm going insane..."_

_-Last Song "Disturbia" by Rihanna_

**Next Chapter:** A much deserved break and a doozie of a group conversation.


	9. Written on the Walls

**Force of Nature**

_Thanks so much for all the reviews! You guys really made my weekend. I really hope you like the next update and that you let me know what you think. Oh! I finally got one of the two computers back up and running that went down the other night - Yay! Enjoy!_

**Written on the Walls**

"Stop turning your back to me." It was a growl, the voice so sudden that Sam jumped away from the cell wall where she was studying the pictures with more attention than she'd shown them before. Sam whirled to see a man she'd never met before standing just inside the doorway. "What did you just see?" He demanded.

Sam was trying to play catch up but the fractured nature of how this was all coming to her didn't leave her much in the way to go on as to how she should answer him. He seemed to think that she knew him, but she didn't have a clue and she was worried because she didn't know if she was awake back in the real world or sleeping on Jason's shoulder. She knew it was a flash this time, because she didn't remember how she got there. It was the little tricks that were proving Talia right, little things that gave her a clue as to when she was.

Well she couldn't tell him what she didn't know, the trick now was deciding whether or not she let him know that or not and after feeling so damn helpless and insane for the better part of the last 24 hours she really wanted to feel like she had the upper hand. It was a delicate balance, however. She couldn't gauge how he would react and she had to think of the baby. Still this guy needed her alive, right?

"If you think you can lock me away and just demand anything from me than you need to rethink your plan." Sam put on her best poker face and even found enough spunk left to twitch the corner of her lips into a smirk. "I'll not telling you anything."

He looked deflated for just a moment before he regained his composure. It was obvious that he was used to dealing with people that more compliant. "It's so funny you think that there's some choice." He shook his head slowly. He approached her and Sam backed away, but when her back hit the wall she could go no farther. The minute he got into her personal space she lashed out, trying to push him away, but he brushed off her attempts as a man with martial arts training and she cried out as his hand landed hard against her belly, pressing in until she screamed. "If you want a chance to say goodbye to your little bundle of joy before I disappear with her than tell me what you saw."

Sam jumped awake in the truck with a gasp. She had been resting against Jason's shoulder between him and Dante. Sam let out a calming breath, reminding herself that she was alright now. Talia might have been able to stay sane, but Sam was sure that were plenty of adjustments that had to be made in order to facilitate that. "I'm fine." She said before anyone could even ask as she felt concerned glanced all around.

Sam narrowed her eyes at a small sign to the left side of the road, situated next to a barely visible gravel road. The hidden drive sign looked just like one of the pictures that she'd seen on the wall of the cell that had already foretold of the note that they'd found at the farmhouse. Beside the hidden drive sign on the wall she'd seen several rounded globes of yellow and red, but it hadn't made much sense just looking at it. Sam took a measure breath and decided that she better start trusting these instincts if she was going to stay sane. "Jason, you need to turn left." She pointed to the sign and the road. "Now."

Looks were exchanged all around the truck but Jason was quick to comply as she pulled the truck onto the gravel road and started down the path. They were all taking steps of faith at the moment and Sam knew she wasn't the only one trying to make this new development make sense.

"Do you think she knew?" Kristina hadn't spoken yet, not since they left the house and Sam turned to look at her sister worriedly.

"Knew what and who are we talking about?" Leila asked her softly.

"Talia, do you think she knew she was about to die?" Kristina swallowed tightly as she met her sister's eyes in the soft glow of the panel lights. "She had to have seen it, right? She wrote that note on a bedroom wall months ago, months before she died. She had to have seen it. Right?"

Sam had wondered the same thing but she was scared to think on it too hard right now. "I don't know, Krissy." Sam whispered.

"Why didn't she say anything? She must have recognized the cabin and the men...I mean she could have said something!" Kristina spoke fervently, her voice shrill with a mix of emotions.

"Hey, hey..." Lulu pulled Kristina into a hug, holding her tightly. "Maybe there are somethings you can never see. I'm sure she didn't know." Lulu reassured her though it was apparent that she wasn't really sure. Leila likewise wrapped an arm around her friend as Ethan watched the girls worriedly.

"Hey quiet down." Jason said it gently as he realized that they needed this moment but there was something up ahead and fear edged it's way into his voice. "You seeing this?"

"Yeah." Dante replied and Sam turned away from Kristina to see what they were looking at.

"What the..." Ethan leaned forward from the back seat to get a better look. They all fell silent as they looked out the windshield to bouncing lights headed in their direction. Jason finally pulled the truck to a stop when he realized that the bouncing lights were actually lanterns and he fearfully moved to put the truck in reverse.

"No." Sam tenderly placed a hand against his as she saw the globes of light and new they were in the right place. "We're supposed to be here." She promised him. Jason licked at his lips nervously but released his hand from the gear shift, reaching instead for his gun. "I don't think you're going to need it." Sam would have already climbed out of the truck if Jason and Dante hadn't been in the way. Dante wasn't near as trusting as Jason, despite the weird note left on the farm's bedroom and she had his gun in hand as well.

"Let me check it out first." Jason told Sam, as no amount of trust could take away the fact that they were all still being hunted.

"Alright." Sam nodded and Jason slipped from the truck, stealthily moving in the direction of the coming lantern light.

All eyes were on Jason as he made his way towards the coming crowd, slowly moving forward, gun in hand, trying to make out anything in the night. It wasn't until they came closer though that he realized that they weren't dressed exactly modern. The headlights illuminated a group of men, dressed in hues of black, browns and white. They wore their beards naturally, all looking a little shocked to actually find people here before them in the middle of no where, almost a mile off the main road.

"We've come to offer you a place to rest tonight." Jason heard one of them call to him as they approached. Jason was already tucking his gun away, watching them in wonder. "We were told that you'd need our help."

"Who told you?" Jason asked still trying to get used to all this. Worry was still lining his brow, but hell they needed the help. He didn't know where else to go and they couldn't exactly call Spinelli or Anyone for that matter, not with everyone and their mother trying to find them.

"We can talk about it on the way to the house. Lets get there before the rain comes again." the man replied evenly as he offered Jason his hand in peace. "I'm Jacob, and I mean you and your friends no harm."

"Jason, thank you." He shook his hand as the others fanned out around. "Should we park here?"

"It is preferable." Jacob replied. "The walk isn't that far." Jason nodded glad for small favors. He didn't want any of the battered group, especially Sam to have to walk any farther than they had to. God this was a whole new world. Jason was used to understanding that world operated in a particular way, having that completely blown was a little harrowing. There was a fine line between being able to trust perfect strangers and trusting Sam's new found ability.

Jason walked back to the truck, the men waiting for them just at the edge of the headlight beams. "They're here to meet us and take us back to a house where we can rest." Jason explained. "They're Amish." He shrugged.

"You mean like no electricity, horse and buggy Amish?" Leila asked in wide eyed wonder.

"Yeah." Jason nodded as he reached for Sam to help her out of the cab, while Dante climbed out the other side. Jason grabbed the bag from the back floor board and slung it over his shoulder as he placed a protective arm around Sam's shoulders. He really hoped they had a change of clothes for them because they were all varying degrees of soaked.

"How did they know we'd be here?" Lulu asked as everyone made it out of the truck and Jason got it settled off the side of the gravel path.

"How did Talia know to leave us the note in the farmhouse?" Sam replied tiredly, answering her question with another question.

"I am never going to get used to there actually being people out there that can see the future." Leila sighed.

"It is sort of freaky." Ethan agreed as he wrapped an arm around a still shaken Kristina.

The walk to the house was awkward as Jacob explained that Talia's mother brought her here as an infant, for them to raise, to hide her from her family. She'd been raised Amish until she was eighteen. She'd set out to find her place in the world soon after...

After everything that had happened, everything they were discovering, being led back to an Amish farm house was pretty low on the list of crazy for tonight. Jacob and his family took the whole group in. Their spacious house boasting three extra bedrooms since their children had moved on to occupy neighboring homes.

Sam closed her eyes wearily having a hard time picturing Talia as Amish as she adjusted the ankle length night gown around her belly, glad for something dry and warm. She heard the creak of the door and looked up to find Jason walking into the candle lit room in little more than his boxers and a button down white shirt left unbuttoned.

"I know I look like a nun." She smirked as she looked him over appreciatively. "Jacob and Marna must be asleep, because Marna would have a heart attack if she saw you walking around the house like that."

Sam hadn't been there long, but it didn't take long to realize that modesty was important in so many aspects of the culture.

"Yeah they are. Dante and Ethan are sharing the room next door and Lulu, Kristina and Leila are down stairs." Jason explained as he sank onto the bed next to her, wrapping his arm around her as he drew her to his side, kissing her forehead. "And you're the most amazing nun, I've ever laid eyes on." Sam smiled in reaction to hearing a hint of a smile in Jason's voice.

"Jason," Sam started but fell quiet as he tenderly shushed her while sweeping the both of them under the blankets as he blew out the candle, tossing his shirt onto a nearby chair before he pulled her back to him, the both of them sinking down into the bed, wrapped in each others arms.

"We should talk."Sam tried again once they were settled.

"I know. We will. But for now, just for now, you need sleep, and I need to feel you beside me." He stroked his hand up and down her arm, drawing his other hand to rest softly on her belly. "Both of you." Sam couldn't argue with that. She nuzzled against Jason, her hand resting over his against her belly as they fell into a comfortable silence, which soon led to slumber.

**ZZZZZZZZZZ **

"_Whose first?" _

_To say that was a loaded question was such an understatement. Sam had to fight every instinct she had to stay seated as she looked for any opening that she could exploit to fight the four men that stood before them all, holding guns on the group. She caught Kristina's eye where her sister rocked frantically on her knees, tears spilling over her cheeks and had to fight to get out a measured breath. _

"_You can choose or we will." _

_Sam was glad that anger was reigning in favor of fear because it was the only thing keeping her steady. She met Talia's eyes and furrowed her brows. Where her sister and Lulu and Leila all looked two steps away from hysterics Talia looked...sad. She swore too that had just mouthed " It's okay," to her. There was nothing about this that was okay. Maybe this was Talia's version of cracking up some eerie calm. _

"_Alright, I guess it's up to me...Let's see. Eenie meenie miny mo..." _

_Any attention that Sam had given to Talia was gone when she saw the asshole before her settle his gaze on Kristina. Reason went out the window in a heartbeat. Sam pushed herself to her feet and jumped on the guys back, wrapping her wounded hand and arm around his neck. She gave him the fight of his life before the others moved to pull her off him one of them dragging her out of the room screaming. _

_She almost missed it, almost. She was screaming for them to leave them alone as he dragged her out of the room backwards but her eyes met Talia's one last time as Talia rose to her feet. "I'm first." She announced to the men, but she was looking only at Sam when she said the last part. "You have to save her..." _

Sam jerked awake and felt Jason's arms surround her in an instant, comforting touches easing the anxiety of waking in the unfamiliar bedroom from the heart wrenching memory. "It's okay." He whispered as if he knew what she'd woken from. Sam relaxed against him, wrapping her arms around him as her lashes grazed his chest from the rapid blinking to subside the tears.

It took her a moment to calm completely even in his arms but she finally sat up. "Talia, said something that night you came for us in the fishing cabin." Sam whispered as she adjusted the blankets around her while turning to face Jason. "I thought she was talking about Krissy. I mean she'd stepped up, said that she would go first just when he was about to pick Kristina and the other guy was dragging me out of the room but I saw her..." She felt Jason place a steadying hand at the small of her back. "She said that I had to save her..."

"It makes sense that she meant Kristina." Jason reasoned out with her, but Sam shook her head.

"No, Lulu and Leila were there too and she would have said you have to save them, not her." Sam argued.

"She was about to die, Sam. She wasn't thinking clearly." Jason argued the point even though he could see Sam's view.

"No. She was the calmest person in the room. I thought it was some weird coping mechanism. But I think Kristina was right. She knew she was about to die. And that I wasn't. She was asking me to save someone else, but who?" Sam didn't get to entertain the question much more for there was a soft knock at the door. "Come in."

Kristina eased the door open and she and Leila and Lulu all hurried into the room wearing some definitely different clothes that what they were used to. Sam couldn't help but smile seeing them all in long modest dresses in hues of white and light blue. "Marna, said it was probably better to try and blend in." Lulu told Sam quickly when she saw the glint of a smile in her eyes. "Don't say anything."

A rippled of thunder ripped through the overcast landscape beyond the window and all smiles were lost. "When is the weather going to pass?" Leila growled out as she plopped down on the foot of the bed. Jason frowned, but simply adjusted himself under the blanket, pulling his feet away from Leila. As if that wasn't enough Dante and Ethan filed in and that got all the smile back that the coming storm had stolen. "Well if it isn't Jebadiah and Obadiah..." Leila giggled looking over the black trousers and white button up shirts with black vests to bring the whole outfit together.

"Shut it giggles." Ethan snarled as he tossed a folded parcel to Jason. "Here's your getup."

"And I have yours." Lulu told Sam as she pulled out her own folded parcel. "Marna said she made it for her daughter when she was expecting their first grandchild."

"And I told them all that this was pointless, because there is no way we're staying here." Kristina finally spoke up. "Tell them." She looked to Sam and Jason expectantly. Jason and Sam exchanged a glance unsure. Jason was the one that finally spoke up.

"Kristina I know it's not ideal, but at the moment it's safe and it's out of the way and no one would think to look for us here. We need the time to come up with a plan. So for the time being, I think we need to rely on the kindness of strangers and take the help they're offering." To that end Jason took up the parcel that Ethan had offered him and looked at with a click of his tongue against the inside of his cheek, clearly trying to make the best of it.

"He's right." Sam hated to shoot Kristina's hopes that they were returning to civilization immediately, but it was the truth. They needed time to regroup in peace and this was the best place.

Kristina folded her arms over her chest and let out a breath in exasperation. "This is so lame. I can't even picture Talia growing up here and now because of some crazy chemical Sam touched we're all just going from one insane situation to the next. This doesn't make any sense."

"Krissy some of it doesn't make sense because we don't have all the puzzle pieces to this picture. We need to sit down and talk about all of this, see what we can piece together." Sam offered. "Can we do that now?" Sam looked around the whole group. They were all there and she watched as nods went through the group, everyone shifting to get as comfortable as they could.

"Lets start with what Luke was able to find out." Jason spoke up as she pulled on his button up shirt while still shielding his lower body from view under the blankets. "He said that this stuff was called Oracle. There's more than one version. It gives the user the ability to see the future."

"Yeah, um, I'm still having trouble with that part." Dante spoke up.

"Oh come on. The note in the bedroom couldn't exist if it wasn't possible." Leila argued. "Quit trying to rationalize."

"Don't forget it can also cause the user to go insane." Lulu spoke up, eying Sam worriedly as she knew all too well what insanity could look like, could feel like.

"But Talia said that she was fine, that it was possible to stay sane." Kristina pointed out as well when she saw fear flicker in Sam's eyes once more.

"And if Talia did see everything right then Dad can't help us right now...he's been captured." Ethan swallowed tightly. "And we have no clue has him."

"But we can figure it out. We need to go over everything that we know. Sam we need to know everything that you've seen." Jason pulled his pants on under the blankets and then got to his feet to button them, tucking his shirt in as he did.

"Of course." Sam nodded. "The first thing I saw was really close together to the time frame. I saw a conversation that Jason and I had a few minutes before it happened. Then the fire fight in the laundry room and then the hail storm. Everything else – hasn't happened yet."

"What did you see?" Dante asked worriedly.

"I saw an alley and Jason got shot by some dart. He..." Sam licked at her lips nervously as she met Jason's eyes and then looked away wishing she didn't have to recount it. "He wasn't himself. I don't know what was in the dart but he lost it. He was about to attack me when Dante showed up. He looked like he had been running and he was trying to get us to move on but Jason...he pulled his gun and was going to shoot Dante." Sam paused.

"I wouldn't do that." Jason frowned worriedly.

"You weren't you." Sam replied evenly. "I've never seen you like that. I managed to mess up your aim but you knocked me back into the wall and Dante tackled you and then told me to run and I did. Then I heard the gun shot and..."

Lulu gasped covering her mouth with her hand in horror.

"I don't know that Jason killed Dante, but it was Jason that came running." Sam finished. "I ran into the rest of you guys on another side street and then Jason caught up with us and he was about to kill me...I woke up." She whispered looking to the floor as silence fell over the group, fear running rampant.

"Talia, said that not everything happens the way you see it, though, it was in her note. And if we hadn't found that note then we would have gone to Wichita, but we're here and I don't see any alleys or side streets, so lets calm down a little." Ethan cleared his throat and prayed that he was right about that. That it might not happen simply because they were stuck in their own version of some Amish paradise.

"What else did you see?" Jason asked, his voice choked with emotions he was trying to hide.

"A cell with lots of pictures on the wall. I was in scrubs and locked in. There was a picture of you shooting a man in a lab coat." She said to Jason. "Then I saw a picture of the farmhouse we were in and an arrow pointing to the upstairs bedroom. It's how I knew to look in the room."

"Wait so you got a message from the future leading you to something in the present..." Dante asked in confusion. Sam nodded. "This hard to wrap my head around."

"The second time I saw the room I saw a 'hidden drive' sign and all these little glowing ball looking things. When I woke in the truck it was right there. We turned and then the lantern light. It all fit. But there was this guy there the second time. He was yelling at me, he wanted to know what I saw and when I wouldn't tell him he threatened to take the baby without letting me say goodbye to her." Sam blinked back tears from the memory.

Jason crossed the distance between them and wrapped her in his arms. "No one is taking our daughter." he promised her. "And I hope you never see the inside of that cell..."

"But then how did we get all these clues if she doesn't." Leila asked in confusion.

"Well she sees it one way, but if we change the future for the better than it changes and she won't end up there." Lulu tried to clarify though her own voice was cloaked with confusion.

"Talia, added to tell her mother that she loved her and I thought that we came here to find her sister." Dante finally added. "And then Jacob said that her mother brought her here to hide her from her family...we're still missing a lot of puzzle pieces, but we should talk to Jacob, because Talia could have left another clue here."

**ZZZZZZZZZZ**

"_I still hang on every word...in a world of faded memories...where you're still in love with me...I can see it in your eyes...a look as if your Major Tom has lost control...I must hold on, this happens all the time...I still find my faith in you...I can't hold on, this happens all the time...I still find my way to you..."_

Tamara Marrow unfolded the letter as she walked from the mail box towards her front door, waving to her neighbor as she went. The storms weren't gone, but they were supposed to clear off by mid day which would be heaven. She paused on the front step as she looked down the length of the letter realizing it was her sister's handwriting. Tamara's hands trembled as she read, tears brimming behind her eyes as she suddenly folded the piece of paper and made a mad dash inside, frantically moving to get the prepacked bag that resided under her bed.

Deacon found her. After all this time. How? Tamara raced to get everything else she could think of together and then hauled ass out the back door to the SUV in the garage. She had to get the hell out of here before he turned her into another experiment, like he'd done to their mother, like he'd done to her twin...

"_If a dreams all that I've got...then I wish your in a fairy tale...where you're still in love with me...I could see it in your eyes...the look as if your hero fell and lost his soul...I must hold on, this happens all the time...I still find my faith in you...I can't hold on, this happens all the time, I still find my way to you..." _

Evelyn was looking less and less like she was taking the second dose well but Landers still hadn't been able to get anything out of her and he had tried everything he could think of. All she wanted to do was draw and she was drawing like crazy. He'd never seen her like this, trying so hard to get out one picture after another drawing til her crayons were nothing but stubs. She was moving from one picture to the next and for the life of him Landers couldn't decipher their meaning...

"_I still find my way to you..."_

_-Last song " Happens all the time" by Cold._

**Next Chapter : Sam must make a decision.**


	10. Every Broken Road

**Force of Nature**

_So I had a plan to finish up Force of Nature in the next few days, but I doubt that's going to happen unless my aversion to Caffeine suddenly goes away in a big way. That being said thanks for being so patient. My schedule kind of looks like seven tests with in the next eight days, multiple tests in one class, crazy lady, and three programs on Monday – YAY! I love school and sarcasm. _

_Thanks so much for all the reviews and bearing with and my finicky muse. You guys rock and I really hope that you enjoy these next updates. I'm going to be focusing on Force for the mean time until I it finished and then will switch off to Doppelganger because it's deadline it May 15th. Twist will be on hold until I finish both – sorry. _

**Every Broken Road**

"You're telling me that you've lost contact with everyone?" Sonny couldn't believe what he was hearing. He'd been apprised of the situation from Luke and Spinelli, kept up to date as they were all working their asses off to find a way out of this shit storm for the people that they cared about. Now this annoying twerp was telling him that he couldn't get a hold of any of the missing.

"The blonde one's father was supposed to check in prior to his meeting in Wichita, but he has not and I cannot get any response from any of the numbers that he gave me." Spinelli confirmed, trying to take the annoyance playing across Sonny's features into stride. "Jason and the others had to dispose of their cellular devices and I already disabled the lo-jack on the truck so that the enemies couldn't find them, unfortunately it also keeps the honorable ones from finding them as well."

"There has to be another way, cameras, you're always hacking into the feed from around town, can you do that where they are?" Sonny was on his feet now, his mind playing through all the things that could be keeping them from getting in touch with them. He was trying to keep hope alive that his children that were with them were all alright. God, he's known it was a bad idea to send them without any other protection.

"I've been trying, but many of the roads do not have the systems in place. I can only track them so far before I lose them. I have a last known but that was from 12 hours ago." Spinelli licked at his lips nervously.

"That's it..." Sonny slammed his fist down on his desk top infuriated. "I'm done waiting on Luke to try this his way. Take the list of Delphi subsidiaries that Luke sent and we're starting at the top and working our way down. That company is knee deep in this and I will drag them to hell if it means finding my kids." Sonny swore to him. "I'll start rounding up men and shipping them out to do what needs to be done. You coordinate with the addresses and contact information." Sonny was already on the move, Max and Milo filing out of the woodwork, flocking to his side.

"Yes, Mr. Sir." Spinelli sank into the seat behind Sonny's desk, and quickly got to work, fingers flying over the keyboard.

Sonny made his way to the car, unbuttoning his suit jacket before he slipped into the backseat. He rattled off instructions for taking him to Lucky Spencer's apartment and sat back, looking out the window as he wracked his brain for how to bring them all home safe, if they were indeed safe at all...

**ZZZZZZZZZZ**

"Who knows?"

Luke swallowed coppery essence as he fought to lull his head back enough to take in this asshole through a swelling view pane. He sniffed back with a grimace as he set his jaw for another assault. He'd wondered when the softening him up was going to happen, now he wished it was already over but he wasn't going to let them know that. The name of the game was acting like crazy was on the menu or at least a love of pain.

"You're gonna have to be a little more specific there, Sparky." He replied right after spitting out a growing pool of blood along his gum line.

"Who all have you been mouthing off to about Oracle?" Deacon replied anger permeating every word that flew from his lips.

"Well, lets see..." Luke sniffed again, trying to relax his muscle – fighting bracing in anticipation of another hit. "There's all the people that work for the company, minus the ones that you killed off with your little company 'accidents' so I'd say you know better than I do."

And there it was...

Luke's head snapped back, jaw feeling it as Deacon's goon let his left hook fly. Luke could take solace in the fact that this maniac didn't seem to know where his family was which was about the only thing he had to be any kind of happy about at the moment, because just cause this idiot didn't know, that didn't mean that his hit squad wasn't closing in. Luke just had to hope that Sonny was picking up his slack now. They needed all the help they could get. Luke half forced a smile, trying to hide the pain wavering through his features. As soon as he told him what they wanted to know he was no longer any use to them, so he was just going to have to stay useful no matter how much it hurt. "Is that the best you got?"

**ZZZZZZZZZZ**

It was a surreal sort of thing to even learn where Talia came from. Jacob knew only a little from Talia's mother. Apparently she had grown up nearby and she was friends with some of the Amish children in her youth. It was this reason that Evelyn sought out Jacob's family when she needed a place to hide her children.

Yes Children.

Sam couldn't believe that the shocks just kept on coming. Talia had a twin sister who had grown up in Jacob's household with her. Jacob knew that Talia was different. Her mother had tried to explain, but he didn't understand until he got to know the little girl with the visions. Tamara, her sister, didn't have any such talent and Sam could only assume that that meant that she had never been exposed to Oracle. What that didn't tell them was how Talia had been exposed, why her mother had to go on the run to help keep them hidden.

They had more questions than answers.

Sam stood at the outside Talia and Tamara's wold room as the others went gingerly through it's contents, looking for clues under the watchful eye of Marna. She still didn't understand, but trying to force her mind to accept it hadn't been working so far so she was simply trying to survive.

"You look like you could use some air." Jacob's voice was soft at her back and Sam turned to give him a glance just over her shoulder, managing a gentle smile.

"Maybe a little..." Sam agreed after looking back to Jason and finding him and Dante combing over a journal. Lulu and Ethan were talking softly on a window seat and Leila and Kristina were looking through the other items on a small book shelf.

"I know a place where Talia used to like to go, maybe we can walk and talk." Sam caught Jason's eye as he over heard them and looked up worriedly.

"That sounds like a good idea." Sam smiled. She tried to diffuse Jason's worry. "I'll be fine, we won't be gone long." She knew better. Sam had been having more and more flashes and they were all leading up to something that she couldn't talk to Jason or the others about, not unless she wanted them all to make it out of this alive.

She'd been getting shorter bursts with differing outcomes for the same situation and not all of them involved her specifically. She'd seen Jacob and Marna, she'd seen Luke and Sonny. She'd seen Amber and Spinelli. What was more, it was getting harder and harder for others to tell that she was having them. She was pretty sure that Jason didn't know and she needed to keep it that way. From what she had seen there was only way out of this for most of them to make it out alive.

Sam rubbed a hand protectively over her belly as she and Jacob walked in quiet contemplation to a small stump just inside the tree line of the surrounding woodlands. Sam waited until they stopped before she spoke up. "Talia asked you to bring me here, didn't she?" She hadn't seen it, for it was in the past, but she had a pretty good idea.

Jacob's smile as graceful as he looked up to meet her eyes tearfully with a nod. "It was one of the last things she ever asked of me." Sam felt her heart go out to the man as she placed a comforting hand on his shoulder.

"She knew what was coming, and it's going to save Tamara, it's what she wanted." She promised him.

"I never did understand it all." Jacob replied sadly, wiping a tear from his cheek as he sank to sit on the stump and reached to a hollowed hole at it's base, pulling out an satchel full of envelopes. "She said she made it easy for you."

Sam's smile was bittersweet as she took the envelope. "That was very thoughtful of her." She was beginning to think that Talia was far more thoughtful than she ever gave her credit for. "Can you stall the others while I walk back to the truck?" She asked him as she retrieved her keys from a pocket in her borrowed dress.

"I can." He smiled. "You need to hurry, if you're going to make it to Topeka."

"I'll make it." Sam knew she would, she'd already seen it. "You take care, Jacob," Sam leaned in and kissed his cheek goodbye, wishing she could kiss Jason goodbye. Wishing she could tell him.

**ZZZZZZZZZZ**

Jason looked through the journal flipping through pages and pages of doodles and random words, as the others combed over the rest of the room, paying no mind to the echoing thunder in the distance. He stopped, heart skipping a beat, when he laid eye on the last entry of Talia's last journal. Jason took off at a run dropping it as he went and it was Dante that picked it up to see the red truck drawn there with Sam in the drivers seat, looking out the window with a saddened expression as she waved goodbye to no one in particular.

"Oh God..." Dante took off after Jason in a hurry wondering where in the hell this was going, God was he trusting a picture over sound reason? So much had happened that it was truly hard to know where to draw any lines any more. Ethan and Lulu got to their feet and were quick to follow as were Leila and Kristina all worried about what had happened.

They ran all out til they reached where the truck should have been, but found only gravel and dust flying from where the truck had recently taken off. Jason whirled when he heard Jacob coming at a much slower pace from behind them. "You let her go?"

"I let her do nothing, she knew what she was doing." Jacob called and Dante got ready to intercept Jason should he need to stop him from killing Jacob. "She's only taking a head start, to take care of things that must happen before you follow. She wanted the best outcome and has set out to obtain it. I've already gotten a buggy ready for you to take you into the nearest town so you can pick up the vehicle Talia left for you." Jacob explained.

That wasn't good enough for Jason though as he stepped forward with malice in his eyes only to have Dante push back. Jason met his eyes, deciding in a flash whether or not he was going to take Dante apart to get to the man that sent Sam out on her own into this mess. "Do you want to find her or kill Jacob?" Dante asked as they heard the buggy approaching.

Jason looked torn a moment before he replied. "Lets go..." Jason growled out.

**ZZZZZZZZZZ**

Lucky opened the door and frowned seeing Sonny and his guards waiting there. He'd known something was up the moment that Ethan wanted to go to Kansas and then his father's sudden disappearance, now Sonny showing up all surprise like with that we need to talk look on his face. "What happened?" Lucky asked worriedly.

"It's bad." Sonny didn't want to start off with any misconceptions as he walked through the door.

"Wonderful opening...what is it?" Lucky asked as he articulated each word clearly for effect.

"Lulu and Ethan are part of the group in Kansas that is now being hunted by hit men." Sonny braced himself, readying for Lucky's reaction.

"What? They went on vacation to take Talia's ashes to her family." Lucky spat out in horror, wondering just what had happened. "Did Castillo have family or something?" Lucky could only fathom that it was repercussion from what they had already lived through.

"It's not about Castillo. You're father sent Ethan after something volatile and it went bad. We haven't heard from any of them in a little over 12 hours. We have no way of tracking where they could be but we do have a lead from where the package originated from and I am asking you, no pleading with you, to ask your contacts, possibly your brother, Nicholas, to help us take the Delphi institute and these hit men down, to save your family and mine." Sonny implored him.

**ZZZZZZZZZZ**

"_No sleep, no sleep until I'm done with finding the answer...Wont stop, won't stop before I find the cure for this cancer...sometimes...sometimes...I feel like going down and so disconnected, Somehow...Somehow...I know that I am haunted to be wanted..." _

Deacon looked at Luke's half conscious form and growled out a cry of frustration. "Clean him up. We'll start again in the morning." He promised his men. This obviously wasn't working and he was leaning towards a truth serum. He could have it there by mid morning, something to loosen this assholes lips.

Deacon sighed as he walked out of the cell and headed towards the viewing area of the one next door, looking to check into Dr, Landers progress. He was less than thrilled with what he found. Landers had nothing but some stupid drawing that Evelyn had been working on as her health declined.

"_I've been watching...I've been watching...I've been waiting...I've been waiting...In the shadows...for my time...I've been searching...I've been searching...I've been living...I've been living...for tomorrows...all my life..." _

Sam pulled to a stop down a lone residential street in Topeka as rain drizzled all around and she waited for Tamara to come from the shadows, to get into the truck. She couldn't help but smile at her sadly as she got in and looked about nervously. "It's okay, I'm Sam..." She offered as she offered her hand. "A friend of your sisters." her smile was a mix of warmth and sadness. "Talia, wanted me to help you, and that's what I plan to do, but first we have a few stops to make."

Sam had so much to do and not a lot of time to do it. It was going to take the both of them to get it all set up.

"_They say...that I must to learn to kill before I feel safe...but I...I'd rather kill myself then turn into their slave...sometimes...sometimes...I feel like I should go and play with the thunder...Somehow...somehow...I just don't want to stay and wait for a wonder..." _

Dr. Landers and Deacon were fighting so hard that they didn't notice the moment that Evelyn got to her feet, looking up at the skylight as If her after all these years, these long long years, her savior had arrived. It was a strange thing to welcome something so long time in coming, but as a captive without much time left she knew a good thing when she saw it. Evelyn had already witness her death in two faucets. One if she let the drugs run their course and the other ...this way...

Evelyn peered up at the skylight above as blue danced through the clouds spreading her arms open wide as she welcomed the second choice, thanking God for his mercy and for giving her every chance to save those that she loved. It was in someone else hands now...

A single beam of lightening shot through the skylight and straight into Evelyn ending her years of suffering in one swift moment...

"_I've been watching...I've been watching...I've been waiting...I've been waiting...In the shadows...for my time...I've been searching...I've been searching...I've been living...I've been living...for tomorrows...all my life..." _

The buggy ride into town had been like hell on repeat for hours as they waited to get to the place where Talia had apparently stashed them a car. Jason was getting more and more frustrated, feeling as if Sam's safety was more and more out of his hands, but dammit they still had hope and at least a direction...Sam was headed to Topeka...and so where they...

"_I've been watching...I've been waiting..." _

_-Last song " In the Shadow" by the Rasmus._

_A/N: I know I haven't mentioned an Ambe in this fic, but she does play a part coming up soon..._


	11. Jigsaw

**Force of Nature**

_So there is only about 2 – 3 more chapter to finish this one up probably 3. There's still a lot to bring to light. I really appreciate all those that have stuck by to read this and am glad that my brain isn't as mushy as I thought it was after the last few days of studying :P _

_Thanks so much for reading and reviewing and I hope that you enjoy this update. Happy Easter!_

**Jigsaw**

**32 hours later...**

**Topeka, KS**

**9:04 p.m.**

"I want you to bring him to the penthouse." Sonny climbed out of the SUV on the move, with an entourage of guards surrounding both him, Lucky, and Nicholas. They moved with purpose, through the lobby towards the elevator, all eyes on them of the Cloverfield's skeleton crew of a night shift on them as they made their way through. "Now," Sonny's huff of frustration was matched with a sigh the moment that he hung up and the phone immediately rang again. He no sooner accepted the call then Spinelli's frantic prattle danced in colors of annoyance against his eardrum.

"The Lo-Jack has been reactivated!" Spinelli was absolutely beside himself. "I traced the signature of the hack to find that it was my Arch Nemesis that was responsible for it. He hasn't been on since the day he breached my Fortress of Solitude while the Goddess in training, the Fair Samantha, and the Blonde One were loose in the wild's of the Canadian outback."

"Calm, down, where is the truck?" Sonny asked as they walked into the elevator and he got a look from Lucky and Nicholas in worry.

"It's on the move on 4th and Pine heading towards Cliffton on a side road." Spinelli explained.

"In Topeka?" Sonny asked in wonder. What were the odds of that?

"The very same..." Spinelli went on though. "I also have the location of the hacker."

Sonny hit the open door button just as the elevator door was about to close and the doors slowly slid back open. "I'm listening."

"Dayton Street, 3 blocks west from your current location." Spinelli replied quickly. "It's a bar called Halogen."

Sonny was the first one out of the elevator and everyone else followed suite in a rush. "Let me know the minute you find anything else out." Sonny was moving back towards the SUV's and he quickly hung up in favor of letting those around him know what was going on.

"Who was that?" Lucky was getting impatient and Nicholas looked ready to jump out of his skin they were both so on edge, the not knowing getting to them both. Hell for all they knew their father, sister, and brother had all been killed.

"Spinelli, he's located the truck and the hacker that managed to turn the Lo-Jack back on. It's the same hacker from Castillo's organization. I knew that son of a bitch had to have been mixed up in this in some way." Sonny got out in his own frustration, his children at just as much risk as their family.

"We need to split up, Lucky you and me with Amos and Fin, Nicholas you and the others, go to bring the others back here where we can protect them." Sonny was quick to dictate the orders and Lucky, while questioning briefly didn't want to waste the time squabbling over the finer points when there was still so much left to chance.

Lucky sank into the back seat next to Sonny, meeting Nicholas's eyes before they parted company. "Bring them back in one piece," He implored him.

"I'll do my best." Nicholas promised on his way to the other vehicle a mix of Sonny's guards and bought and paid mercenaries making their way with him. As their SUV disappeared from view and Sonny and Lucky's turned to head in the opposite direction Lucky looked to Sonny for answers. "So it's the same hacker that tracked the girls in Canada?" He asked worriedly.

Sonny looked out the window, fingers stroking thoughtfully over his chin as he wondered how deep this thing was going to get. "Yeah..." was his simply reply.

"I thought you said you took care of Castillo." Lucky wasn't exactly happy to have to cover up the fact that he knew Sonny killed the bastard, but it wasn't like he was heartbroken. The asshole had planned on first enslaving and then torturing his sister to death. In his mind the law couldn't have give him the kind of payback that Sonny was able to provide.

"I did." Sonny swallowed tightly as he tried to connect the dots in his mind. "You know when we were going through his business dealings there were a few companies that he was on the board of directors that I'd never heard of. I think one of them might have been Delphi." Sonny hadn't looked into it, that chapter of his life was closed. He'd done what needed to be done and it was over. At least he thought it was.

"So the hacker worked for Delphi, not Castillo?" Lucky wasn't liking the sound of this.

"Maybe." Sonny reasoned with a shrug. "It's not the craziest thing I've heard today."

"So what do you know about Delphi?"

"Pharmaceutical research." Sonny replied with a sniff as if to cover just how much he was remiss to say that he didn't know.

"That's weak." Lucky scoffed in disbelief.

"I know. Spinelli's stretched thing, trying to find their many directors for the main institute and then the subsidiaries. I've got other feelers out there and we've already picked up a few of the board members, but it's slow going." Sonny confided in frustration.

"I know Dad had to have gotten better information to you then that. What do they do?" Lucky didn't mean to let so much emotion bleed into his voice, but how was he supposed to help it, half his family was out there in this mess.

Sonny stretched his mouth taut before running a hand down his face show casing his dismay at trying to convey what it was exactly that they thought the Delphi Institute might be up to. "Luke seemed to think that they were making miracle drugs, drugs that a lot of high powered people would do anything to get their hands on." Sonny explained.

"Drugs that do what?" Lucky didn't like the run around that Sonny was giving him one bit.

"Luke seemed to think that the one he was supposed to be picking up was a new strain of a drug called Oracle. It was supposed to make the person who came in contact with it think that they could see the future." Sonny wasn't really sure to believe because the whole thing sounded so ludicrous.

"You expect me to believe that these people are scrambling to find this drug that helps someone see the future?" Lucky asked in exasperation.

"I'm not asking you to believe anything. I'm telling you what I know. Obviously someone believes and their willing to pay a hell of a lot of money to get it." Sonny replied with a shrug. "That's what your Dad found out before he disappeared."

"That can't be all of it." Lucky sighed.

"We'll know more when we talk to this hacker." Sonny reassured him as best he could all the while trying to convince himself that he was on the money on that one.

**ZZZZZZZZZZ**

Jason stood outside the dive of a hotel that they were stuck at with what little cash they had left, new cell in hand as he dialed Spinelli, hoping that he could somehow find the truck, if Sam even still had it. What was she thinking? It was hard enough trying to realize that without her sudden ability and she was barely functioning as it was. There were so many ways that this could have gone wrong and she and the baby...Jason closed his eyes, raking a hand down his in banishment of the thoughts. He balled his fist as it fell to his side.

They'd made it to Topeka without any more storm delays but didn't have a clue where to go from there so they'd found a low rate hole in the wall and rented a single room for all six of them.

"Jackal and McCall, Jackal speaking," old habits died hard as with answering the business end of the phone. Jason heard Spinelli quietly chastise himself before he went on. "How can I be of assistance?"

"Spinelli, it's me." Jason jumped in before he go off on another stream of thought.

"Stonecold!" Jason could imagine the wiry geek jumping to his feet from the shaking of his voice in joy and wonder. "I told Mister Sir that you made it!"

"Spinelli, I don't have time for this. I need you to undo whatever you did the Lo-Jack on the rental truck. Sam's out there and I need to find her." Jason was barely keeping the seething rage from his voice, the avid desperation from spilling over.

"Oh,oh. You're in luck, or out of it depending on how you look at it." Spinelli started and then hitched in a breath in worry as he realized that the Fair Samantha was out there with only her own wits and resourcefulness to outsmart all the would be assassins coming after them. "Castillo's hacker has already undone my masterful work on the rental truck tracker." Spinelli announced in a rush of terror. "I have the trucks present location, however, and Mister Sir has rallied the troops. He's sent an intercept."

Jason was half relieved and half further scared to death at the news. "Is Sonny in Topeka too?" Jason asked in a rush, praying that should he not be able to get to Sam in time that Sonny was able to.

"He is. Lucky and Nicholas are with them. Nicholas pulled out all the stops to bring in reinforcements to bolster Sonny's men with mercenaries. He's also been coordinating a collective effort to bring in all the board of director members of the Delphi Institute and it's subsidiaries as a means to find out who it is that has engineered this plot."

Jason felt a small measure of relief flood though him that Sonny was working on the problem in Luke's absence. He rubbed his forehead as he breathed a sigh and then sucked in a heavy breath. "Alright, where's Sam?"

"Looks like she just parked in an alleyway behind 412 Branson Street." Spinelli spoke rapidly.

"I'm on my way there, now, I'll get back with you." Jason didn't give him a chance to explain anything else as he quickly hung up and hurriedly pulled his keys from his pocket, slamming his hand against the door to get everyone's attention. They'd made a pact to stay together seeing as how they seemed to have to run at a moments notice lately. "Time to Go!" He called out on the move to get the SUV that Talia had set up for them started.

**ZZZZZZZZZZ**

Sam slid out of the truck and reached behind her for the bag of guns and ammo that had been sitting between her and Tamara until she'd dropped her off at a safe house. Talia had been working hard for years to make this thing work. Sam was just now learning the half of it and how it all worked. She'd been reading letter after letter, moving almost constantly from one place to another as she brought together all the pieces of Talia's ever blossoming plan.

She couldn't even claim to really understand how it worked but she was at least getting the hang of it. She could see futures along many intertwining paths any one's life that intersected with her own. It was getting more and more elaborate and in depth, she could feel what they felt, knew their thoughts. She knew now how a person could go mad. Jumping in and out of another person's future, knowing them inside and out like that, it was...it was...chaotic, especially trying to come back to yourself and act like nothing had even happened and then there were all the different ways that the scenario could play out. She was stuck just reliving some random moment any more. She could make up her mind to do something differently and suddenly the whole outcome would change.

She'd learned that Talia had been having visions of her and these moments for almost 4 years and it took her that long to engineer her plan to help them all make it through it. It was a mix of meeting Sam before her death that set the visions on this path and then realizing that she would later be embroiled her sister's life. Sam had no idea what the original version of whatever vision Talia must have had along those lines but she had worked her ass off to change that future and Sam was seeing that it was going to get trickier and trickier.

It was the whole reason she'd had to separate from the rest of the group. She didn't have time to coordinate everything and explain and work to get everyone on board. She didn't have the strength and the will to fight to convince anyone of anything when she was still trying to make herself understand. And she'd seen the outcome if she had of stayed. They were all about to meet back up, though, so it would be alright...so long as everything worked out the way she'd seen it.

Sam pulled the bag over her shoulder with a grunt, knowing that the weight probably wasn't regulated for pregnancy, but she didn't have much of a choice. She adjusted the strap over her bullet proof vest and hurried to get in place.

**ZZZZZZZZZZ**

Sonny and Lucky left the entourage outside but knew there was no way that even minus a few more men that they were ever going to blend in as they realized all too late that Halogen wasn't exactly brimming with male clientele. In fact aside from the two of them there was a maybe two other and Lucky wasn't even sure that they were strictly hes. It wasn't a judgment thing that had them on nerve when they walked in however, it was the fact that they stuck out like sore thumbs and that didn't bode well for trying to talk to a hacker with mob and other shady connections on their home turf.

Lucky slid his hands into his pockets as he walked, looking through the dimly lit smog to see if he could spot a laptop. It was so loud that he could barely hear himself think. A live band was rocking the punkish overtones of the nineties as throngs of lithe bodies melted into each other on the dance floor.

"Are you sure they're still here?" Sonny asked Spinelli as he looked about, now relatively sure that the he that Spinelli kept referring too was in deed a she.

"Positive." Spinelli replied fervently. Sonny was about to give him a piece of his mind because for the life of him he didn't see anything that even resembled a laptop hanging around the place, but Lucky suddenly tapped his shoulder and pointed out a red head sunk onto a couch by her lonesome her laptop propped up on the table. She didn't seem popular, as the table was set a ways back, almost blending into the shadows towards the back exit.

"Found her. I'll call you back." Sonny promised him as he and Lucky moved in tandem to cross the floor with as little exposure as possible en route to the woman. She looked about 23 with her red locks cascading in perfectly sculpted ringlets down to her waist. She was a petite one showing off her curved in a couple of layered tanks and tees with a pair of ripped jeans closing out the ensemble. Sonny was glad that she was so caught up in whatever she had going, because she didn't even notice he was sliding into the booth with her until the muzzle of his pistol was hidden between them, digging into her side.

Lucky scooted in on the other side, seeing fear cross her face, his own stirred as he knew how wrong this was. Still he couldn't call Sonny on it, not now. "Act natural." Sonny told her softly as though they were the best of friends.

"Easy for you to say." She scoffed with a crinkle of her nose in disdain as she tried to adjust herself only to find that she had no where else to go once Lucky slid into the booth. "So what's this all about?"

"You don't know?" Sonny asked in mock shock. Was there more than one thing that she had to worry about this sort of thing over?

"Not readily." She shot back.

"Let's say that maybe I have some interest in finding out exactly what it is you do for the Delphi Institute." Lucky watched as Sonny spelled it out and he got a bad feeling as her eyes widened in spiraling terror at the mention of the name.

"I can't talk to you." She whispered it out all protest gone from her voice.

"You don't even know who I am." Sonny arched an eyebrow shooting Lucky a glance. They were both on the same page though. Obviously she was more afraid of the Delphi people then she was of a gun shoved into her side.

"It doesn't matter who you are." She retorted shivering as she quickly closed the laptop. "I can't talk about what you want me to talk about."

"You don't know what I want you to talk about."

"Stop it. I know enough...and if you want to kill me than go right ahead, but I can't talk about Dephi." She swallowed her fear down as best she could.

Lucky cleared his throat, taking it from there. "Listen," he lowered his voice and paused waiting for her to give something to call her by.

"Amber." She reluctantly gave it up.

"Amber, I'm Lucky." He offered quickly. "There isn't going to be much left of the Delphi Institute after this is all done and we can offer you protection." He promised her solemnly. "I know you might not believe me, but we've got the fire power to take them on. We just need to know more about what we're up against, and to ask you to stop overturning our computer guys work at hiding our friends."

She was more receptive, but still looked doubtful.

"Why don't we take this conversation to the Cloverfield's penthouse." Sonny said softly. "I'll put the gun away and we can just talk." Sonny was trying to follow suite to turn this less into an interrogation, hoping that softening and providing protection would get her to open up. It took a moment but he could see that she wanted to believe, that she wanted out of involvement with Delphi and that helped them immensely.

Twenty found them all sitting more comfortably the guards securing the floor as they waited on news from Nicholas and Jason on if they had found Sam or not yet. "I need to know what Delphi is working on, what makes them tick." Sonny only had a fraction of the mission statement.

"What aren't they working on. I'm more afraid of what I don't know than what I do." Amber swallowed tightly. "I hacked into their mainframe three years ago. Then they working on drugs of every flavor. They had this rage pill to turn some unknowing bystander into an instant assassin. Just hit 'em with a shot from what looked like a tranquilizer gun and they lose all since of what's going on, overcome with an uncontrollable rage they kill whoever is in the immediate vicinity. It's messy, fast, and it leaves no ties to Delphi. The stuff metabolizes so fast that it can't even be found in the blood stream. It's like marketing target specific chemical weapons to the highest bidder. Delphi has made a fortune sponsoring some of the worlds most lucrative special ops programs. They had truth serums, hallucinogenics, hell they can make you look dead for up to 72 hours without any permanent side effects." She explained at a fast prattle. "They have performance enhancers and I don't mean like Viagra. We're talking stuff that makes steroids look like Pez candy. Amnesia is a specialty. They can make you forget you're whole life or measured degrees of it. They are working outside the scope of ethics to create drugs that keep the top secret world moving forward."

Sonny and Lucky exchanged a look as they realized just why it was it felt like they were in over their head. "And you want out?" Sonny asked quietly.

"I never wanted in." Amber confided with a trembling lip quiver. "I didn't have a choice. I never had one. The day I hacked into their system I became theirs." Lucky watched as she closed her eyes, really feeling her pain, believing her.

"I believe you." Lucky smiled softly, reassuringly. "And we're going to do everything that we can to help you, but we need you to help us, work with our computer guy to help us find more than one way to take these guys down." He offered her.

Sonny watched her closely, praying that she agreed and finally let out a sigh of relief when she slowly nodded.

**ZZZZZZZZZZ**

Sam checked her newly acquired watch to see that it was almost time. She heard soft footfalls down the alley and closed her eyes with a smile of relief. Alright, showtime. She did wish that this part was going to be easier.

But it wasn't.

Sam waited until Nicholas was in view before she eased herself into his line of sight. "Sam, thank God." Nicholas got out as soon as he saw her, already rushing to her side, only to realize that she was alone. "Where's..." he didn't get a chance to finish the question though...

"Get your men back and follow me." She was already on the move, needing to get to Jason and the others from the avenue they were about to enter the twisted alley system here. There were so many rows of buildings and the streets were narrow here on the East side. It was a haven for the less than ideal aspect of city life all thrown together in a mess or brick lined walkways and shadowed coves of sin. What they had to do was work their way through the maze before the hit men climbed out of the wood work to take them all down.

"Sam, where are the others?" Nicholas hadn't made a single hand gesture and or call and Sam didn't have time for this.

"They're right around the corner, do what I said or you're going to get those mercenaries killed." She wasn't going to police him, it was up to him to believe her. She also wasn't about to stop. Sam soldiered onward and stuck her head out of the alley way in time to see Jason and the others pulling up in an SUV on an adjoining side street. She quickly pulled the strap from the guns and ammo bag over her head and handed it to Nicholas. "Take this, gets a couple of guns toss them to Jason and Dante..." Sam ordered as she took a right and headed into another alley way knowing that Jason had seen her and was leading the others in that direction.

Sam clung to the shadows as she waited for everyone to catch up, hearing the soft crumble of debris from a misplaced foot fall over head. She slowly inclined her head to see the soft drizzle of dust playing against the back door light of a nearby business and frowned.

"Sam?" Sam whirled just in time to come face to face with Jason who looked a mix of relieved and worried and scared shit less all at once.

"Take a step back." She whispered out quickly. Jason cocked his head worriedly. "DO IT!" She screamed out just as the others ran into the alley way to catch up with them. Sam had long ago recognized this place as the original spot where she'd see Jason try to kill her but she knew how to avoid that now. She shoved him hard to reiterate the point and he finally complied, stepping back just fast enough to miss the whizzing dart that breezed a mere fraction of an inch away from his thigh.

"Grab it quick, we need to move." Sam motioned to the failed dart that hit the brick wall beside them as she hurriedly got on the move calling over her shoulder. "From here on out, just do what I say when I say it if you guys want to stay alive." and she was dead serious.

Jason palmed the dart and hurried after Sam, the gun that Nicholas had tossed to him in hand now and fully loaded, Dante and Ethan were moving quickly along with Nicholas trying to shield the other girls in between them as they hurried after Sam. "Quiet now." Sam called out quelling the question that was on Dante's lips in a heart beat. They crossed a side street, hanging to the shadows and made there way into another alley way. Sam paused to catch her breath and looked back to Jason. "Be careful with that dart we're going to need it." She promised him as she motioned to the hand he closed around it. She smiled softly meeting his eyes. "I missed you and I'm sorry...really sorry..."

"Sam, I..." Jason didn't get a chance to go on though as another shot whizzed past them and Sam watched as the dart slammed into Ethan's shoulder.

"Sorry." Sam kissed Jason's cheek and pulled back meeting his eyes. "If you don't knock Ethan out in the next ten seconds, he's going to kill us all." She explained quite rationally.

"_I wanted to be like you...I wanted everything...So I tried to be like you...and I got swept away...I didn't know that it was so cold... and you needed someone to show you the way...so I took your hand and we figured out that... when the tide comes I'll take you away..." _

Sam hated that it had to work this way. She was wishing they had already gotten to the part where she could explain it all. She watched in heart wrenched horror as what she knew needed to happen did, Jason whacking Ethan in the back of the neck with the butt of his gun much to everyone's horror.

"He'll be alright." Sam promised as Jason shifted the man over his shoulder and kept on the move following her.

"_If you want to... I can save you...I can take you away from here...so lonely inside...so busy out there and all you wanted was somebody who cared..." _

Amber looked in the mirror in the bathroom of the penthouse as she tearfully pulled out the last letter that her love had written her. Ever waiting on word. She had the worst feeling, the worst as she unfolded the paper and read the words there once more, the paper showing wear and tear from months of weathering. There was a hand print at the bottom as they had often laughed at how well their hands fit together and she did as she did every night, softly placed her palm against the outline.

"Goodnight..." She whispered as she looked to the picture that was stapled to the bottom of the letter, wishing Talia peace where ever she was.

"_I'm sinking slowly... so hurry hold me...you hand is all I have to keep me hanging on...can please can you tell me... so I can finally see... where you go when your gone..." _

Sonny and Lucky were pacing circles around themselves as they worked on making things happen with what they had to go on now. The guards meanwhile kept a look out as the first of the board of directors were beginning to arrive under guard, hostages in the open. Lucky was wondering just how much of a career he might have left after making sure he saved his family from self destruction.

"_If you want to... I can save you...I can take you away from here...so lonely inside...so busy out there and all you wanted was somebody who cared..." _

_-Last Song "All you wanted" by Michelle Branch_

**Next Chapter: More puzzle pieces fall into place as they plan to completely destroy the Delphi group while finding a cure for Sam.**


	12. Bodies in Motion

**Force of Nature**

_Thanks for being patient. I really appreciate all the thoughts and prayers as well. Things are slowly getting back to normal for a lot of people down here, but we still have a ways to go. _

_I'm finished with Doppelganger so here I am trying to get Force all finished up again. Thanks for the reviews so far and I hope everyone enjoys :)_

**Bodies in Motion**

Jason crossed the next street and alleyway looking about frantically as he made sure that the group was staying together, while he carefully carried Ethan haphazardly slung over his shoulder. Lulu, Kristina, and Leila were looking more and more distraught the further they went. Nicholas was keeping an eye on them all too and Jason could tell that he was reeling in the chaos, but trying to keep things together. To make matters worst Jason was realizing that they were making a large circle and he was dying to know the plan. He trusted Sam with his heart and soul, but this was a whole new level of faith they were entering into.

He was just really hoping that the bad guys were less than thrilled with the idea of opening fire in the streets of Topeka too, that they didn't want the attention, because there wasn't a single silencer around and he had a feeling that there wasn't going to be many more darts fired. Sam might have had her premonitions but he still had his gut. He had to admit, at least to himself, that despite the terror of what was coming next he was so turned on watching her work.

It looked like they were working their way back towards the truck. Jason just wasn't sure why. Sam seemed to have this well planned out and he knew that part of that plan seemed to revolve around the dart now in his pocket, but there had to be something else. He realized what it was the moment that they rounded the corner on the truck and Sam got the drop on a young man about Micheal's age. He was inspecting the truck by the driver side and she quietly let the muzzle of her gun ram against his back at heart level before speaking her introduction.

"Hello, Mr. Grant...the younger that is. Drop the gun." Sam ordered and the guy was quick to comply. Jason realized that he wasn't that well versed in any sort of this type of business, maybe just now getting his feet wet.

"Dante, I need you to cover him, get him to drive you away from here in the truck. The Lo-Jack is back on and we need to buy some time. You'll be fine and so will Lulu and Kristina if you do this now...just follow the map in the glove box and the time line I've written in the key. This is the man in charges son, Gregory Grant, Talia's nephew." Sam explained as much as she could. "And everyone else we need to get to the SUV that Talia left for you. We don't have much time." As if to prove her point the sky was suddenly alight with flashes that lead to a thunderous encore.

"Wait, why Dante?" Lulu asked in horror. She'd been sober for far long enough to be back to her old self and this plan despite her faith in Sam's new found abilities really didn't sit well for her, in fact she felt sick just thinking about it. "The Lo-Jack's back on. That means that they can be tracked." She got out in a frantic pant.

"I'm not sure I like this either." Dante protested. "I mean taking a guy at gun point and driving around in the middle of another storm while people are trying to kill us all."

Sam shot Dante a look. "I can't argue this with you, if you don't do it then the whole plan falls apart and more than one of us will not make it out of this." She promised.

"Why Dante?" Lulu asked again, not liking this at all.

"Because he's the only one that can and everything work out for everyone." Sam offered the only hope that she could as Lulu made her way to Dante.

"They won't risk firing on Dante because their boss's son is in the cab. I promise you, everyone is going to make it." Sam reassured her quickly. "Dante is going to be fine, you're going to be fine, you'll see each other before the night is over – this all ends tonight." Sam needed to hear the words as much as she needed to say them because this story had only played out in her head so far. She watched as Lulu and Dante gave in, sadly kissing each other goodbye, doubts painting tear streaks paths down their faces as they said goodbye.

As Dante and Deacon's son climbed into the cab of the truck the others fled in the direction of the SUV. Rain began to drizzle down again heralding the next coming storm. They climbed into the SUV quickly, Jason depositing Ethan in the back with Leila and Kristina. Nicholas and Lulu climbed into the second row in the back while Sam got behind the wheel and Jason climbed into the front passenger seat just in time for Sam to pull out into the night as fast as she could. "Hold on." She warned without even checking the rear view.

It was a few moments later that Jason finally addressed her. "Alright, I need to know the plan." Jason gave her a sideways glance worriedly.

"I can't tell you yet." Sam took a hard right onto the street ahead and Jason realized that she was trying to skirt a tail. "Some cover fire would be excellent."

"Sam, we don't need the cops after us..." She cut him off in a heart beat.

"The cops won't have time to mess with us in about five minutes. We are on a tight schedule. Please, Jason." Sam pleaded as she sped up. "Just try and take out their tires, anything."

Jason gave a huff of protest as he reluctantly rolled down the window and angled himself out to do as she asked, firing into the night to take out the car that was following them.

In the back seat everyone had fallen silent as the bullets rang out and Leila and Kristina and Lulu all flinched at each loud clash of gunfire playing backup to the growing storm. Ethan groaned and shifted but seemed oblivious to the world around him still down for the count. It wasn't until the vehicle behind them had been neutralized via a bullet to the front passenger tire that Kristina spoke up worried to death about Ethan. "Is Ethan going to be alright?" She asked her sister in fearful wonder at everything that was coming to play now.

"Yeah, what was that they shot him with? Why did Jason have to knock him out?" Lulu spoke up.

"What the hell is going on?" Nicholas piped in.

"Ethan will be fine." Is all that Sam offered as she whirled the car onto another street and sped along. She looked into the mirrors before she went on. "Jason had to knock him out because the same guys that made the stuff that got to me and Talia also make a lot of other stuff and the stuff floating around inside Ethan will make him enraged and lost for hours. When he wakes up again in the next few minutes Nicholas you need to knock him out again, otherwise he won't recognize anyone in the SUV and he'll kill us all." Sam promised them. "He should be fine in the about 3 hours, but we have to keep him subdued until then. And Nicholas, hun, I can't possibly explain this better then by sounding crazy but I can see the future and we need to just deal with that for now."

Nicholas looked to everyone in wide eyed wonder that they were letting Sam take charge now as it was becoming more and more obvious that she was nuts, his own cousin, and he wanted to get her the right help, but this needed to stop...

"I'm not nuts and everyone else can fill you in." Sam explained as if reading his mind as she made a hard left, everyone slung before she increased her speed even more. "Later." She added as she suddenly turned right into an alley behind a bank and she quickly put the SUV into park then cut the engine. "Everyone out. Nick grab Ethan..."

Jason was hating this more and more, he trusted her but he felt like he was going into all of this blind and it was eating at him. He caught Sam by the wrist before she could climb out of the driver side. Sam quickly looked back unstartled as she met his eyes. "I'll tell you everything in five minutes." She promised him as the tornado sirens went off in tandem with the cities power grid failing casting them all into darkness.

**ZZZZZZZZZZ**

Lucky had seldom seen Sonny at work but he could see why his father held him in such esteem as Sonny started to question the first of the two directors of Delphi that had arrived at the penthouse. They were tied to chairs in the midst of the living room, looking a little worn around the edges. Thomas Lane and Phillips Hart. They were waiting on three others, but Sonny had already started.

"I just want to know what it is that you guys do." Sonny was saying as Lucky crossed his arms over his chest leaning against a desk in the background, waiting to step in if it looked like this was going south.

"I r...r...run a company." One of them sputtered out.

"If it's ransom you want..." the other started but Sonny cut him off.

"I don't need your money." Sonny scoffed. "I need answers. What is that your companies make? I know about the crazy drugs, the ludicrous side effects, what it is that you think you're creating, but I want to know more." Sonny's voice rose with each shuffle of info as they tried to get out of talking, tried to guess what this was all about. "I need to know how you've been operating, how it is you managed to test this shit on people..."

"They bought people for that." Amber spoke up tiredly. Lucky turned to see that she had woken and come out from her bedroom, now closing the door behind her.

"What do you mean?" Sonny asked.

"We never..." both of the board members started in unison their words overrunning Sonny's as everyone looked to Amber.

"They bought and sold people that they thought no one would miss. They used them and they threw them away like garbage." Amber was near tears as she explained.

"No...never..." Thomas spoke up but Amber shut him down quickly.

"Don't act like you never knew." Lucky had the inclination that if she had a gun that this conversation would be over. Amber's voice betrayed such venom that he was realizing she was waiting on this, somehow. "You okayed the drug testing on anyone and everyone that could be lost..." She swallowed tightly.

"Are you saying that they willingly bought into slave trading as a way to drug test on people?" Lucky pushed himself off the desk as he asked the question, sickened by the very thought.

"Yes, why do you think that they employed Castillo?" She was livid so much so that Lucky was just waiting for the moment when she might lunge at the guys in restraint. "Talia, she went under cover to prove it." Lucky didn't have to wait long and he was suddenly rushing forward as Amber rushed the guys. He wrapped both arms around her and brought her back to his chest, her legs coming off the floor as she screamed in protest. "They have to know what happened to her!" Amber screamed out as Lucky kept her at bay.

Sonny didn't help. "You were going to use my daughter in drug testing?" Sonny called them out taking over as Lucky restrained Amber.

"No." It was a response again in unison but they were both looking scared to death. It was Thomas that went on. "I thought that they were doing animal trials." He spoke up. And if Lucky wasn't so consumed with holding Amber at bay he might have been able to stop Sonny from grabbing the pistol complete with silencer and shooting Thomas in the knee.

"Tell me you thought that they were doing animal trials." Sonny asked of the guy not choking in pain as Lucky and Amber looked on in shocked silence, Lucky now loosely holding her.

"They were doing human studies but only on the homeless." Phillips cried out seeing that Thomas was now dead. "People that didn't matter."

"Everyone matters." Amber croaked out tearfully, calming as Sonny was only getting started.

Sonny readjusted his aim and Lucky let Amber go, leaving her standing in horror as she watched as he waited to see if he had to go after Sonny next. "Sonny," Lucky started but it was lost on him as Sonny went on.

"My daughter wasn't homeless, but more to the point you guys were letting human traffickers give you sample merchandise to exploit for how long?" Sonny didn't even begin to believe that it all started with Castillo. There was a lull that was quickly alleviated when Sonny placed the muzzle of his gun in Phillips mouth.

"We...we...they quit letting us use people in the 80's so we started trying to find alternatives." Phillip was crying as he answered around the gun in his mouth. "We had different sources throughout the decades but Castillo had a market and he could provide." He confided.

Lucky saw he was about to lose any chance at reigning Sonny in if he let this go much farther. "Sonny," Lucky was on the approach easing his hand around Sonny's around the gun. "We still have a long way to go to find out answers to all these questions and killing this guy, right now, not the best way to get them." Lucky promised him.

"Come on he's disposable. We have three more just like him about to walk through the door." Phillip let out a sob around the muzzle in his mouth as Sonny continued. "He's just as disposable as all those people he thought they could discard like trash." Sonny looked up, meeting Lucky's eyes darkly. "I'm just cleaning up a mess."

"I know you're pissed. You have every right to be. I'm mad, I'm frustrated. My sister was with Kristina, she's with her now. My Dad's missing...I want someone to pay. I do, but this isn't the guy!" Lucky raised his voice, trying to get through to Sonny. "I want the one responsible, not the lackey following orders. This isn't the guy, Sonny." Lucky needed him to understand that he couldn't stand here and let him kill the guy no matter how much he thought he might deserve it.

Sonny met Lucky's eyes with a level even breath. "I understand that you might have some reservations about my side of things here, but if you need a break, take a step outside, clear your head..." Sonny started, just as sirens cut off his attempt to get Lucky off the hook by giving him the option to leave before he killed the man. The light likewise flickered off as a collective gasp went through the room.

"We got get to the basement." Lucky rushed out, tucking his gun in his holster. "Now!" He grabbed Amber by the hand and pulled her to him. "The elevators are out and we have a lot of floors to clear, Sonny now is not the time." Lucky wasn't about to stick around through and babysit the seething mob boss as his first priority was to get the civilians out.

"Alright, clear the room, Go!" Sonny gave the go ahead to the guards and suddenly they were off a mad rush in the dark as they raced to the stairwell and then down flight after flight of stairs as if their very lives depended on it.

"_It starts with one...I can't feel ...it's all in your mind anyway...I can't heal...make me feel this way...Now there's two I can't see...I've never felt this way...I can't feel anything anyway...Lets show them the only way...let's show them our hearts..."_

Sam hurried around to a side door that led into a bakery that shared a solid wall with the bank next door and fired a single shot into the lock in the back door before Jason made it there to kick the door open for her. She couldn't help but smile despite everything when he met her eyes before she could motion everyone inside.

"There's a basement through the main hallway, the stairway is between the bathroom doors." Sam called as she Jason waited with her for everyone to pass, catching her eye in between the bustle of their small crowd. Finally they brought up the rear, Jason's arm quickly encircling her protectively as they moved together. They rushed down the stairs to find Tamara sitting with a flashlight ready for them.

"Ohmygod." Lulu rushed out in horror, it was one thing discovering that Talia had a twin, another completely meeting her, when Talia was the one they had known. Kristina and Leila were likewise in shock as they beheld the woman.

Any questions though were lost as what sounded like a freight train slammed into the building above them. Jason cursed under his breath and grabbed Sam, pulled the both of them to the ground as he covered her with his body, praying that she was right about them all being alright. Likewise, Nicholas rushed to make sure that the others took cover...

"_Only three I can't seem...to get enough anyway...I can't speak...nothing to say anyway...Let's show them the only way...let's show them our hearts...Let's show them the only way...let's show them their hearts..." _

Lucky and Amber burst through the basement doors having met up with a crowd of hotel patrons as the rush to evacuate into the basement had spurred a mass of movement in the stairwell. They had to move fast to avoid getting crushed by the surging crowd and found themselves in the back of a large room watching as others poured into the dimly lit expanse illuminated by only a hand full of emergency lights.

Lucky was counting as he watched guard after guard head down into the room, now searching for Sonny as he kept Amber at his side. Finally he spotted him and Sonny's eyes met his in a horrifying moment of realization. Lucky combed the room his heart sinking and then looked back to Sonny seeing the truth. He'd left them in the penthouse, the board members, bleeding and tied to chairs, to await an impending tornado from up high...

"_Distorted light moves in...Or am I mistaken...it feels so...it feels so...it feels so...cold...there goes today...it slowly fades...it slowly fades away...here comes today...never go...never go away..." _

Luke lay on the cot shivering as he recovered from the work over and slue of drugs he had been subjected to under Deacon's sadistic watch. He was wracking his brain trying to remember what he'd said, what he even knew. Had he somehow given away their location, something? He didn't even really know it, not really.

They just had a meeting place and Ethan was smart, between him and Lulu there was no way they were going to show. Luke closed his eyes and grit his teeth trying to fight the shakes that were rolling through his body, making it hard to even think about sleep. God what had they given him...and what had he said?

"_Let's show them the only way..."_

_Last song - "It Starts with One" by Shiny Toy Guns_


	13. Through the Looking Glass

**Force of Nature**

_This is potentially going to be a VERY confusing chapter. The song used at the beginning of this fic is called "This darkness" by Enation. Only one or two more chapter to go :) so much loves and hugs to all those reading and reviewing! Hope you enjoy :)_

**Through the Looking Glass**

"_Save me from this nightmare...take me far away from here...driving real fast won't make it stop...driving in a fast car make it stop..."_

Sam's vision wavered between Sonny in the basement of the hotel with Lucky and Amber and the guards to Luke in his cell to Deacon as the storm roared in a debris cloud overhead, tearing the bakery apart. Jason's body was heavy against her as he wrapped himself around her, shielding her from any debris that might make it to them in the basement.

The plan was simple, simple and complicated and so very strange. It all hinged around getting to a safety deposit box in the neighboring bank that was likewise being ripped apart by the tornado. There in the box, Talia had eluded was a possible cure, what she would need to rid herself of the 'gift' she'd been poisoned with. Sam knew that if she was every going to be truly free of Delphi or any other organization that she couldn't be suspected as being some medical miracle of modern day science.

"_Come on push it again, push it again, push it down...Push it again, push it again, push it down...Burn it again, burn it again, burn it down...Burn it again, burning it down in the soul..."_

The new more airy surroundings of the tornadic renovations to the bakery allowed rain and wind to whip across the group as they hunkered down waiting for the worst of it to pass. Finally the roar passed, leaving them shielding each other in the night to the sound of the pouring rain. Sam knew she had to act fast. She needed to get to the box before any rescue efforts went into effect. After she had the cure they would meet back up with Dante via a different route and all head to meet up with the bad guy, Deacon Grant.

She was planning on trading his son for Luke. She also needed him to witness her taking the cure so that he would leave her and her family alone. What she feared, for she couldn't seem to see it, was that he would come after the baby, clinging to the belief that the baby would still possess abilities.

"_I will meet you in the darkness...I will meet you where you are..." _

Sam's eyes widened in fear when Jason's weight against her suddenly became absent. She pulled herself up in panic and whirled around the now empty basement. Was this another vision? It felt...different. Different as in the storm was passing too quickly and the darkened skies that should have been no where near dawn were showing signs of blossoming day.

Sam shivered, hands roving protectively against her belly as she made her way up what was left of the steps expecting to come out of this at any moment, yet, it wasn't happening.

_Saaamm_

Sam jumped, spinning, looking for the source of the voice, Jason's voice. "Jason?" She whispered out, her voice quivering in fear that quaked from the depth of her soul. Sam took another few steps up the stairs and a peered out into what should have been a nightmare landscape of destruction. What she found was more like a surreal half formed urban landscape dotted with half constructed buildings, missing walls and windows and doors here and there.

To make things weirder, people were walking past her on the street as if nothing was amiss at all, like it was a glorious start to a beautiful day and they were off to work. She scrambled backwards in sheer terror though when one of she caught more than the profile of a nearby passerby as he was merely half a person.

_Saaammm_

Sam felt tears streaking down her face as she heard Jason calling to her again and the fear that she might lose her mind resurfaced with a vengeance. "Jason, where are you?" She screamed out, ignored by the fractured people passing her. Sam caught sight of the bank she had planned on robbing and hitched a breath when she saw a half formed version of Jason heading in the front doors a briefcase in hand.

"Jason!" Sam did care if he was half formed or not, he was calling her name and she scrambled into the bank after him. What should have been a front lobby full of desks and teller windows half formed or not was anything but as Sam suddenly walked through the rotating door right into – black and white? Color drained from the landscape of what looked like some madman's basement computer war room.

"Goddess!Goddess!" came a sudden chant from hundreds of little superhero action figures cheering from a collectors shelf. Sam backed away from them slowly feeling as if she'd fallen down the rabbit hole while chasing Pure grain alcohol with LSD. Not that she really knew what either did, save what she'd heard. Still.

_Saaammm _

"Jason?" Sam called as she turned, trying to locate where his voice was coming from. She narrowed her eyes though as she realized that it sounded like it was coming from the computer speakers. "Jason?" He voice fell as she looked at the blank screen in confusion. She leaned in close toward the screen when white lines danced across the screen and then disappeared, like someone trying to adjust the picture. 

"_Transport me away from here...transport me unto yourself...driving real fast won't make it stop...driving in a fast car make it stop..."_

"God-dess! God-dess!" A gaggle of toy robots had joined in with the superheros and were waddling her way in their little mechanical way as their electronic voices joined the growing cheer of Spinelli's nickname for her.

Sam turned in the computer chair, spinning a full 360 degrees slowly, trying to wrap her mind around how nothing made sense anymore. "I've lost it." She whispered tearfully to herself, swallowing tightly. "I've gone over the edge, bonkers." She told a particularly swift robot who was now stuck on her shoe it's little feet still trying to go on ahead.

"Sam?" It wasn't so distant this time. "Spinelli quit messing around." Sam turned back towards the screen to see Jason peering into it as if looking into a web cam. "Sam?" He couldn't seem to see her though. "Spinelli this isn't working!" He sounded like he was coming undone. "Sam?"

"I'm right here." Sam got out frantically as she placed her hand against the screen praying he somehow heard her. He didn't show any signs, looked even more scared.

"Sam?"

"Jason I'm here." She sobbed out.

"Spinelli, you said this was going to work." Jason got out in tear streaked grief, wiping at the tears in growing rage infused panic.

"I said that the probability was high." Spinelli corrected him.

"_Come on push it again, push it again, push it down...Push it again, push it again, push it down...Burn it again, burn it again, burn it down...Burn it again, burning it down in the soul..."_

"Sam, come on." Jason was pleading with her and she felt like she was about to lose it all over again. She was right here, listening to him and she didn't have a clue what he wanted her to do. Hell she didn't even know where here was or what the hell was going on!

"Tell me what you want me to do." Sam whispered out heartbroken to the screen still running her fingers over his face, wishing she could feel the real him, right there.

"Come on Sam, wake up." Jason rasped out. "You can do it. You have never backed away from anything in your life. And I know you want to fight. You're always ready for a fight."

Sam blinked at the screen in shock and horror. She was awake, but each words was like a tug at her soul. Wasn't she?

"I need you fight, Baby!"

Sam felt an involuntary tremble go through her as if someone was shaking her, but there wasn't anyone...

"Fight dammit!"

"Tell me how!" She screamed back. "Just tell me how to do it. I'll do it!"

As if her words were just foreshadowing action to come Sam was suddenly sinking, sinking fast as darkness and suffocating lack of air greeted her like a slap in the face. She felt like she was floundering through mud, fighting to break the surface.

"_I will meet you in the darkness...I will meet you where you are...I will kiss you in this darkness...I'm everywhere you are..."_

Sam fought her way through the dark, fought to come up for air in the muck and mire as Jason's muffled voice was still begging her to wake. Suddenly she broke through. Waking from one nightmare into another as she fought hands firmly pressing her back down against a hard flat surface. Sam tried to open her eyes only to find she was fighting against something holding her lids shut.

"Whoa, whoa, just a sec, Baby." Jason's voice was like a balm to her soul, but it only calmed her so much as she could tell something was very wrong. Sam felt his fingers tugging around her eyes and then the painful pull of tape being pried from her skin, pulling at her lashes and brows. Her eyes finally fluttered open to reveal Jason, leaning over her, his hair far more shaggy then she remembered it. "Sam's back!" He called out his voice choked with emotion, joy, as he looked over his shoulder.

Sam followed his gaze behind him to reveal the rows of bed after bed like that which she was in and in them where women and men all waking, one at a time. Lulu was shivering in the bed next to hers, Dante there with his arms around her, telling her everything was going to be alright. Just past them was Kristina who was in her father's arms and past them, Talia and Amber snuggled together with Lucky watching over them. And past them was Leila and Tamara both being looked after by Nicholas and Ethan.

"Wh...wh..." Sam frowned as she tried to make words come out of her mouth and was stumbling over every syllable, her mouth not working. She widened her eyes in fear and looked up to Jason in worry.

"It's okay, it's okay." Jason soothed her instantly. "It'll get easier in just a minute. I know you're confused, but I'll explain everything as soon as I can." He promised her.

"Alright Ladies and Gentlemen, last bus is about to pull out. Lets load 'em up!" All heads turned as a man in camouflaged fatigues walked into the room stealing glances at his watch. "We've got three minutes til reinforcements arrive!"

Sam hitched in a breath as Jason was suddenly pulling her into his arms without a second thought, without question bringing her up to his chest as he readied to move. She looked down the length of her body, now curled up in his arms and took in the gray shorts and tank that she was dressed in, her pregnant belly pocking out between.

She started to tell Jason that she could walk, but well she couldn't force the words out and then she realized that she wasn't the only being carried. Sonny had hoisted Kristina up on his back and she was holding on around his neck like she was a child again. Dante had Lulu in his arms, Ethan carried Leila and Lucky carried Tamara. Nicholas was giving Talia a piggy back ride.

Amber wasn't dressed like the ones being carried, she was dressed like what Sam supposed was the rescue party, in camo and black. What the hell was this? The stark white room left so much to be desired. It was like a sterile environment for coma patients. Other soldier looking guys were moving in and out to grab other people that seemed to not be able to walk.

Sam finally laid eyes on Spinelli who was just getting finished disconnecting a large metal case of computer equipment from her beside. He caught her before Jason could join the others in moving. "So glad to see you awake, Goddess." He smiled brightly as he leaned in and kissed her cheek. Okay so even if she hadn't watched much Twilight Zone, she still had the feeling like she was in it or wonderland minus the fluffy bunny.

All the thinking was making her brain hurt. She leaned wearily against Jason, closing her eyes for what she swore was only a moment.

When she opened them again though Jason was running, it was like waking all over again as she was jostled against his chest, clinging to him as he clung to her hurrying through the...jungle?

"_Oh thought it was a nightmare...though it come so true...They told me don't go walking slow...the devil's on the loose...better run through the jungle...better run through the jungle...better run through the jungle...don't look back to see..." _

The humidity was like a slap in the face as Sam took in a deep breath, holding tightly to Jason as she bounced against him. Gun fire sounded in the distance and she felt him turning back to see how far. Sam felt fear clinging to her heart as she was trying her damnedest to make any of this make any kind of sense. She jumped against Jason when she saw Sonny take a flying leap over a log along another trail and Kristina buried her head against his shoulder in horror. Holy crap – where were they?

Who was after them?

"_Though I heard a rumbling...calling to my name...two hundred million guns are loaded...Satan cries take aim...better run through the jungle...better run through the jungle...better run through the jungle...better run through the jungle..don't look back to see..." _

Sam peaked over Jason's shoulder as Lucky jostled past a tree with Tamara and Dante followed suite with Lulu the both of them getting ahead of Jason and her, going around them. In the distance more gun fire followed and she could hear screams behind them. They weren't in Kansas that was for sure. God it looked like a rainforest – South America? Where were they? What was going on?

"Move move move!" Camo guy yelled as he started past them then stopped to turn and fire, laying cover. "Boats down the hill!"

"_Over on the mountain thunder magic spoke...let the people know my wisdom...fill the land with smoke...better run through the jungle...better run through the jungle...better run through the jungle...don't look back to see..."_

Sam could hear Jason's heart slamming against his chest, pounding to the rythym of all measures of hell he was willing to go through for her as he made it down the hill and Sam adjusted herself in his arms to see that they were running towards lots of men waiting to fire at those chasing them and towards a boat docked on the river banks...a large boat...a freighter?

Sam wasn't sure, she didn't get that good of a look at it before her eyes were closing of their own will, whisking her away to darkness once more.

"_Better run through the jungle.." _

_- Last song "Run through the Jungle" by Credence Clearwater Revival_


	14. Continuous Dream State

**Force of Nature**

_Hope this adds some clarity and doesn't bore anyone to tears :P Thanks for the wondermousful comments and I hope you enjoy :) - I know I said one or two more to go but it still maybe one or two more after this one :P _

**Continuous Dream State**

"How's everyone doing?" Sam heard Jason's question through a haze of foggy consciousness as she shifted on her side, easing her eyes open quietly seeing Jason, arms folded over his chest, talking to Robin in a small hatchway that led to a ship corridor.

"They're making progress. In and out of consciousness, we're working on the muscle atrophy and motor skills, rehydrating." She paused with a soft reassuring smile, realizing he wanted more than the list of medical progress. "They're confused, but we've got a great support team for everyone."

Sam narrowed her eyes as Patrick Drake hurried past the hatch, then stopped and backed up to catch Robin. "Dagny got shot in the thigh and didn't tell anyone." He explained his rush as he kissed her cheek.

"I'll be in the secondary infirmary when you get done patching up bullet wounds." Robin smiled as she kissed him back.

Sam wasn't sure what the hell was going on, but she was trying to piece it together without questioning too much as far as sanity went, rolling with the punches had been her only way to stay sane thus far. So far she had – that they were on a boat. A cargo freighter with a hell of a lot of people, some familiar, some not so much.

"How soon before we transfer to Sonny's yacht?" Robin asked Jason after Patrick disappeared down the narrow metallic corridor.

"We'll make the trade in international waters once we're through customs in Buenos Aires." Jason replied quickly.

Sam blinked. She was right, they were in South America, Argentina. Alright she wanted answers and she wanted them now. She was about to ask for them but she couldn't quite get the idea to translate to actual words issued forth. She felt the demanding lull of sleep pulling her back down and try as she might to fight she couldn't seem to stave it off.

When next her eyes afforded her the luxury of sight she found herself in a much nicer room with the weight of an arm snuggled warm nestled between her breasts and belly. Sam blinked lethargically and a soft groan escaped her lips as she turned her head to find Jason sound asleep beside her. Despite the ever present nagging confusion she couldn't help but smile.

Her smile broadened when the baby's gentle nudges prodded against Jason's arm, it was enough to wake him from the light slumber. He lovingly and gently rubbed his hand over her belly where the baby was kicking and then realized she was awake. "Hey," he whispered as he moved to stroke a stray loch of hair from her cheek.

"Hey." She replied just as gently.

"How are you feeling?" Jason asked as he sat up, reaching for his discarded shirt on the nightstand. He quickly pulled it on.

"W..." Sam could only wish that the words came out as easy as 'Hey' had. Dammit why was it so hard to talk? "Weird." She finally got it out and that felt like a struggle. She watched as sympathetic eyes met hers.

"Weird – bad? Or Weird – confused?" Jason asked for clarification checking to see if he needed to bring Robin or Patrick in.

"Con...confu..." Sam let out a groan and slapped the bed in frustration.

"It's okay, I got it." Jason nodded as he enveloped her hand with his own in comfort. "This is going to pass. I know it's hard and it's frustrating and I am going to try and explain it as best as I can." he promised her. "Sam, you've been asleep for the last four and a half months." Jason struggled to get it out especially when he saw her eyes widen in horror.

Sam shook her head, there was no freaking way, no way. She couldn't have been asleep that long, what the hell. She was nearly six months pregnant four months ago and she looked the same, not to mention the whole Kansas and tornado and needing to take down the Delphi institute and rescue Luke. How in the hell was that four months ago? And why were they in Argentina and how was Talia alive? "N...no." Sam shook her head head fervently not believing it. This was some trick of the mind, some weird side effect she hadn't encountered before.

Jason was nodding though. "You went to the club with Sonny, the guy drugged you and took you, the recruiter. He sedated you and put you in a cargo container bound for Argentina. You were never awake to help your sister." Jason told her softly.

"No...no. Th...tr...train." Sam clearly remembered the train, getting out of their cages and jumping, making it to the cabin. Jason and Dante and Lucky came for them there. "C..ca," God almighty let the damn word come out. "Cabin." She growled out in frustration.

"You were never in a train or a cabin, Sam. They brought you in like freight, to the Delphi Hospital in Parana, Argentina where they did experiments on Continued Dream States with advanced interfacing. It was an illegal human trial." Jason couldn't hide the anger playing across his face as he tried to keep himself in check despite the inhumane deeds enacted on his girlfriend and so many of their friends and loved ones. "Feel your neck." Jason motioned to the back of his neck just at the base of the skull as a point of reference as to where he wanted her to feel.

This was crazy, insane, there was no way any of this was...Sam's mind addled as her fingers played over the area where Jason was indicating and she felt a hard metal spot about the size of a dime with a small hole there. Holy mother of...Sam pulled her hand away as if she'd been bit and looked to Jason in absolute shock. What the hell?

"Calm down, you're alright." Jason soothed instantly as he saw the terror winning her over. "It's over. They can't hurt you now. It's going to be okay."

Sam looked at him disbelief. Calm down? She had a metal disk in her neck like some freak sci-fi movie gone wrong and it was anything but alright. Sam didn't even try to talk as she pointed to the damn disc as if to tell Jason like hell it was.

"I know, but it's harmless now. Robin and Patrick sealed off the port."

Port? She had a port in her neck, someone had something hooked into her neck, like a computer? What the hell was this the Matrix? Inception? Why would anyone want to research something like that? She didn't know which one was crazier, being able to see the future or this shit!. Maybe it was just her, she was crazy all the way around.

"Think about it – strange stuff was happening. Spinelli hacked the program, but you were the only one who would respond because they had you on a lower dose of drugs because of the baby, you were more lucid. He added little details to help you find your way to a fail safe in the system. You were the only one that could get everyone else there, no one else could see the clues, Sam." Jason explained as he saw her panic, trying to help her see what she was having trouble processing. "I'm not exactly sure how it translated to you, we never saw what you guys were living in there."

"Fu...future." Sam rambled out. "I..." Sam was getting sick and tired of her words not making out of her mouth.

"You saw the future?" Jason asked in wonder. She nodded and then pointed to her mouth for an explanation as to why she couldn't talk.

"It's a side effect from the dream state. Patrick explains it better but it's like your brain remapped a whole lot of stuff because you were constantly dreaming, talking and getting around are going to take some time to get used to again." Jason wanted to kill these bastards all over again.

Great. Sam threw her hand up in frustration and then swallowed tightly trying to get used to playing guess what I'm asking as she pointed at her belly.

"The baby's perfectly healthy." Jason smiled reassuringly. "And a miracle at that." Jason couldn't hide the joy at finding that he was soon going to be a father, a new bit of news for him. Sam let out a breath in relief.

She had to wonder about a few things in the dream though...Talia died, and then if Jason and the others weren't there then how were they seeing them? "Ta...Talia?"

"They had you guys grouped in groups of five, in a shared experience. They removed Talia as part of the experiment. She was just incorporated into another group." Sam couldn't believe this, Talia never died? It was just some experiment. God she felt sick. How could anyone toy with people like this?

Jason watched worriedly as Sam pulled back the covers and slipped her legs over the side of the bed. "Sam, you're not going to be steady...What do you need? I'll get it." Sam made a scoffing sound and pointed to the adjoining bathroom.

"I'll..." She nodded to let him know that she had this as she pushed off the bed and felt her feet hit the floor and that was about it as her legs turned to jello. Jason caught her, lending a supportive arm as he held her up so they could make it there together.

"It'll get easier." Jason promised her.

Sam felt like crying. She didn't want it to GET easier. It shouldn't have to GET easier, it never should have happened. She wanted to know everything – so much more, but she was out again as soon as Jason helped her back to the bed as if their conversation was the equivalent to a whole days worth of labor.

Sam woke a few hours later to feel a tight shiver down her back. She had rolled onto her left side in her sleep and she had that hair standing on the back your neck sort of feeling. She started to sit up but she felt a hesitant nudge against her neck and she fearfully looked behind her to find Spinelli lying on the bed at her back, looking 1 part nervous, 1 part scared, and 1 part dear in the headlights. "Wh..." As the rest of the word refused to pass her lips Sam growled in frustration.

Spinelli took that as his moment to scramble off the bed and sputtered. "So sorry, Stonecold asked me to keep on eye on you while he questioned The Sinister One with Mr. Sir." Spinelli was putting distance between her and him as he rambled out. "I was looking at the..." Spinelli motioned to his neck as way of explanation and realization dawned in Sam's eyes as she rolled them with a shake of head.

She then took into account the first part of his explanation. The Sinister One she knew that nickname, whose name was that. She hadn't heard it in a while. Sam's eyes widened as she finally remembered. "Cas...Cas...Castillo?" She asked in horror. He was alive too? So nothing that she remembered from the moment at that club when she was trying to infiltrate the trafficking ring had happened?

Sam threw the covers back and got to her feet in a rush, surprised but so freaking happy that she didn't fall over. She was wobbly and weaving but she stayed on her feet. More than once she had to grab for the wall or a door frame as Spinelli hurried after her in a tizzy. "Fair Samantha I fear that you shouldn't be up and about." He reached for her to help her but Sam pushed his hand away, determined to do this on her own. Dammit she wanted to see the bastard that was responsible for all of this.

The nightgown she'd been changed into clung to as she moved, though it wasn't long til she realized that she didn't know where. "Where?" She turned on Spinelli glad the word came out as she looked to him expectantly. Spinelli knew better then to stonewall her.

"The flybridge." Spinelli swallowed tightly as Sam turned away and headed up the stairs to the upper deck. He moved right behind her, trying to stay with her to catch her, should she fall. Sam made it with much difficulty, but she made it all the way to the flybridge. She had to lean on Spinelli the last few climbs but she made it.

Jason and Sonny didn't immediately notice that they had company, they were far too busy questioning Castillo. Fernando Castillo was tied to a chair, obviously worked over for days, looking cocky and obstinate despite it all. Sonny was sitting on the side lines sipping on a glass of water as Jason worked in interrogation mode.

"All I need is a name." Jason told him as he moved around him, his hand grasping the back of Castillo's neck until the man cringed. "The last founder of Delphi."

She supposed sometimes the mind did get it right. She'd imagined Sonny questioning Delphi board members just as Jason was now searching for them. She supposed it was just how well she knew them, but then she didn't profess to truly understand what had happened in there.

Sam looked Castillo over, a sad old man trying to hold his bravado in check in the face of impending death as if it would some how spare him some punishment to his pride. Was that all these powerful men thought was important, their pride? Their status? It was like conceit on steroids. And all for what?

Sam felt sick, her face fallen in disgust as Castillo looked up to meet her eyes while trying to pull his head away from Jason's touch. "I already told you everyone I know about." He said without breaking eye contact with her as if he was somehow going to shake her. She had been as shaken as a person could be for months awake or in dreams. She didn't have enough left for another shake.

She was tired, wrung out of fear and shock. "Then why are they keeping you around?" Sam spaced each word out, speaking slowly thrilled to now end that she didn't stumble over any. It was amazing what served as a blessing in her mind now. "You're shark bait."

She saw what hint of a smile Castillo had left dwindle into fear, not getting near the response he wanted out of her. He was struggling to regain his facade of cool and collected as Jason looked up at her voice, finally realizing that she was here. She saw fear in Jason's eyes as well, but it was for another reason all together.

"Sam why don't we..." Sonny started in her and Spinelli's direction but Sam shook her head, cutting him off.

"No. I want to stay for this." She was still having to draw out her sentences, but the words were still coming.

"I don't think this is the best place for..." Sonny started again, but she shook her head once more.

"I'm staying."

Sonny looked to Jason as if asking him to do something, but he already knew that she meant what she said. "She makes a good point." Jason brought up to Castillo. "If you've told us everything you know then what good are you? I should throw you overboard and be done with it." To that end Jason hurriedly unwound the rope that bound Castillo's bound wrists to the seat and jerked him to his feet.

Jason pulled him bodily to the edge and pushed him over, letting the rope catch against his hands as he bought some leverage clinging to the other end of the life line connected to Castillo's wrists with both hands. "Are you sure you don't know that name?"

"I know it! I know it!" Castillo screamed floundering to get some hand hold on the railing that was just out of his reach.

"What is it?" Jason arched an eyebrow expectantly.

"It's Deacon, Deacon Grant!" Castillo yelled out. Sam narrowed her eyes. How had she dreamed about a man she'd never heard of? At best she was believing that she'd made him up with the limited information she had to go on, but he was real? What about Evelyn?

Sam watched Jason, teetering on the edge of agony, his own rage eating away as he looked for an outlet. He peered over the railing at the last vestige of usefulness that Castillo had to offer and let go, the man's screams breaking the calm as Sam looked away, closing her eyes with a tight swallow.

They were all still missing something. Maybe it was just that she and the others hadn't been able to share their experiences, maybe it was because this was the first human trial of this type and there was no telling what crossed the barrier from machine to mind – hell the way Jason talked Spinelli had practically hacked her brain. Whatever was going on, she wanted to know it. There was something else nagging at her though.

She'd seen everyone that had been in their collective dream when they were escaping from Argentina when she first woke, she saw absolutely everyone, except Luke. So where was Luke? Sam had expended far too much energy to expect to have much of a powwow with Jason as she was already fading on Spinelli, who barely managed to catch her on her way to the deep black world of dreams.


	15. Pictionary

**Force of Nature**

_Bunches of thanks for reading and reviewing! Enjoy!_

**Pictionary**

Night had fallen when next Sam woke. Jason was sound asleep beside her and she lay there a moment watching him sleep before she decided to try and get up without waking him. She was glad that hid words from earlier were ringing true as she barely struggled to make it to the bathroom, her legs feeling much steadier under her. She felt much more confident. So much so that she wanted something to eat and she wanted to get it on her own, preferably without an escort.

Sam made her way to the kitchen, finding it bathed in soft reserve lights as she headed to the fridge to see what she could find to eat. She paused hand on the handle when she heard a soft padding from behind her and turned to see Kristina. She was holding to the door frame, obviously having difficulty and Sam left her perch near the fridge to get to her sister and spot her to get to the dinning room table, which was set for eight.

"Hungry?" Sam asked her having to draw the word out slowly once more to get it out. Kristina nodded and Sam nodded back in understanding. She met Kristina's eyes as she ran a hand through her hair and leaned in to kiss her sister's cheek. Kristina wrapped her arms around her, refusing to let her go until the hug ran it's course. Sam finally pulled back with a soft smile and then headed back to the fridge. Sam opened it up and peered inside, her eyes widening in wonder. Someone had seen fit to make sure they were stocked that was for sure. She reached for a four pack of yogurt and held it up to see if Kristina wanted any. Talking without talking was the game at hand, for even though Sam had managed to talk a full few sentences earlier, it was still hard.

Kristina took in the yogurt and wrinkled her nose with a shake of her head. She put her hand together and then expanded them away from each other in an arch as if to say she wanted something more, something more substantial. Sam nodded in understanding and put the yogurt back in, eying a couple of cardboard boxed that looked like pizza containers. She pulled then both out and set them on the counter taking a look to find, all kinds of slices of differing topped pizza slices all crammed together and she held it up with a nod asking if that was alright. Kristina's eyes widened with a growing smile and she nodded.

Sam gave her a thumbs up and went to turn the oven on to reheat all of it, on a hunch. She then got the pan ready and set both pizza's out ready to go into the over before she made her way back to her sister. Sam sank into a seat and reached across the table to take her sister's hand into her own. Kristina squeezed hers with a hint of a smile as she met her eyes. "Sl..." She caught the frustration in Kristina's eyes and swallowed tightly waiting to hear what she was asking. "Sleep?" She finally got out.

Sam nodded and then motioned to Kristina to ask her the same thing and she nodded back. "Talk, t..t...t...to...any...b..?" Sam asked not so quickly. Kristina nodded but looked like it was a chore to try and explain, still she made a valiant effort.

"D...da..." Kristina looked to Sam and saw she understood that she was talking about her Dad so they both nodded in understanding to let each other know and she went on with the list. "Ro...Rob...Robin."

"Patrick?" Sam asked seeing that Kristina was a little bit behind her on communicating.

Kristina shook her head and Sam nodded to let her know she heard her. She heard more noise coming from the corridor and looked up in time to see Lulu making her way into the room holding up her fore finger and middle finger in to make a peace sign as she smiled at the both of them, a form of silent greeting as she struggled in to get a seat at the table. Sam smirked and gave her a peace sign back then motioned behind her to the pizza. "Pizza?" She asked her simply and Lulu nodded fervently as she sank into a seat next to Kristina.

Sam smiled as she watched Kristina and Lulu clasp hands together lovingly. Despite everything that had or hadn't happened they had grown closer and nothing was going to change that. It was just hard to explain with your mouth wasn't working and most everyone believed that you hadn't believed in what your mind told you you had over the last four months. Sam heard the ding of the oven letting her know that it was ready for the pizza and she pushed herself to her feet heading to put it in the oven just as Leila made her way into the room. Sam turned to see Lulu and Kristina motioning Leila over, Lulu flashing her another peace sign.

Sam waved at Leila before she put the pizza in the oven then made her way over in time to see Tamara and Talia leaning on each other as they made their way in. Everyone from the table waved the duo over. "Pizza?" Sam asked again and saw a myriad of nods in reply as hugs were exchanged all over the place. The six of them sank into their seats as they waited for the pizza to heat up and the confusion began as they tried to talk and were all having trouble, stumbling over words and phrases, struggling to put together whole sentences, finally Sam found a stash of pads of paper and pens and brought them over to the table.

They hadn't gotten a chance to draw the first thing when Kristina caught Sam's arm and then motioned to her sister's belly, her way of asking if the baby was alright. Sam caught her hand and nodded then tried to explain to everyone else. "B...Baby's...fine." She smiled to them all happily. At least there was something to rejoice about. And everyone seemed to give their version of a silent cheer in response.

Sam quickly passed out the pads and pens not sure how easily it was going to be to write, hopefully easier than talking. What they soon found though was that their fine motor skills were effected too and writing small letters was cumbersome. So...they did what Lulu suggested when she quickly drew a large and horrible rendition of a train and all of them acknowledged with a mix of emotions and sounds letting her know that they all remembered the train.

That spurred Lulu on and she quickly drew a picture of the forest and the five of them minus Tamara in it. Sam narrowed her eyes, when had Tamara come to them? Was that another part of the experiment had they connected her to their group? And what had Talia lived through since her death? Or well thought she lived through. Everyone was quickly letting Lulu know that they remembered it save Tamara who looked a little confused until her sister hugged her tightly to let her know that was okay.

Sam was better at vocalizing she was quickly realizing so she thought she'd help everyone out. "Cabin?" She asked quickly, and Lulu touched her nose as though Sam had hit right on what she was going to draw next. Sam frowned seeing Talia shrink a bit and waved at her friend to catch her attention. Talia looked up and forced a smile but Sam didn't let it go. "Wh..what...do. You...remember?" She asked her worriedly.

"I..." Talia struggled to try and get another word out but finally decided to play it via charades as she wrapped her hands around her throat and then made a face as if she was saying she remembered dying. Sam felt bile rise in her throat at the thought. Because these assholes wanted to experiment they'd made a women feel like she was dying and that was so not okay with any of them. A whole host of disgust passed through the group before they reassured Talia it was more for those that hurt her than because of what she'd indicated.

"I'm..." It was Leila that was trying to speak. "S...s..."

"Sorry." Lulu spoke up for her.

Sam looked to Tamara seeing that she felt left out as she met her eyes. "Tamara, it's ok..." Sam managed. Tamara smiled softly and nodded as Kristina squeezed her hand. "When?" Sam asked her as to how she'd been taken apart from her sister.

"Sa...Same...t..t..t..time." Tamara finally got out. So they hadn't all been kidnapped the same way as it was told in the dream, but then again the last part where Sam met Tamara was skewed with Spinelli's helping hacking. It seemed that the remembered the same things at least. So it was more like it did happen – to them at least. One big dream that everyone shared.

Lulu made a confused expression coupled with holding her hands up in questioning as she motioned to the pad and quickly drew a picture of – well- Sam angled her head narrowing her eyes as she tried to figure out who she was trying to draw. Similar looks passed through the group and Lulu huffed in frustration rolling her eyes as she then drew a badge to go with it.

"Lucky?" Sam asked and Lulu shook her head. "Dante?" She guessed again and Lulu touched her nose to let her know she got it right. Now Sam was trying to guess what she was asking about him.

"How did you see people that weren't in the dream?" Everyone looked to the doorway to see Amber walking into the room. Lulu nodded fervently as Amber made her way over to the group. "I have a feeling if the Doc's saw you guys up we'd all get a reprimand." She smirked as she grabbed a free chair at the table. "You're mind had to compensate for the changes that were happening. The people that were there, but weren't really were ghosts invented by one of more of you. As soon as an acceptable version was accepted by everyone the computer took over the facade."

Sam shook her head unable to believe that Jason was a piece of programming in the system. He seemed to real, to much like her Jason to be a line of code. Everyone else was having a hard time believing it as well.

"I know it's hard to accept, guys, but they weren't real, it was who you wanted with you that wasn't. You accepted them because you needed them to get through what was going on in there." Amber tried again as she reached out to Talia and took her hand, the both of them grasping each other's gently.

Lulu pointed at her horrible drawing of Dante and shook her head refusing to believe it.

"Look for the last four months the guys you were all dreaming about have been ransacking the world to find you, tearing apart mob organizations and drug companies and traipsing through South America. Spinelli and I have hacked top secret computers and found trails that took months to find and that was after they managed to get me out Delphi's grasp and protect me."

Sam raised her hand at that stopping her mid sentence to clarify a point. Amber really was being held by the Delphi organization as a hostage used to help them and Castillo? That was real? Did that mean that Talia and Tamara really did have a tie to the organization. Was Deacon really their brother? "Dreamed that part." Sam nodded. Some stuff apparently got incorporated in that was half truths or full on nail on the head.

"Talia and Tamara knew it before they went undercover to try and get me out of it. They had to have brought that into the dream." Amber nodded.

"Deacon?" Sam looked to Talia wishing they could all communicate easier, this was the most frustrating conversation of all time. "Is he your brother?"

Talia and Tamara both began to nod and Amber looked to the table top uncomfortably. "They haven't seen him in years." She said softly.

"He killed your mother?" Sam asked worriedly again another wave of sad nods. Lulu placed a comforting hand on Talia's shoulder as Leila wrapped her arm around her in support. Kristina got to her feet and gave Tamara a hug. It was obvious that real or not they had all bonded over the last four months. They had all lived the lie together and now they had to heal from it together. "Did he ex...experi." Sam didn't care if he was their brother, she would kill him with her bare hands if she got her hands on him. "Experiment on you before?"

Another round of nods and Sam let out a breath in growing anger. The Delphi institute truly was a corrupt abomination and Deacon was the worst of them all, for he didn't just go get random people that he had no feelings about to test out their latest creations, he was a sociopath that had taken it upon himself to put his own family through hell. The only thing that Sam couldn't fathom just yet was why Jason and Sonny had to beat his name out of Castillo when Amber should have known it and was already on their side.

Sam narrowed her eyes as she watched Amber comforting Talia. The version of Amber that she's seen in the dream was Talia's ghost of Amber and therefore it was how she saw her. Loving, caring, pining after her. Could Talia have it wrong? Could they really trust her? Talia and Tamara and Leila Sam trusted, because she'd been in their heads and they hers for the last four months.

God this was so confusing, her brain hurt. Talia had to have her doubts too because in the beginning they realized that Amber was helping Castillo's goons locate them through the GPS that she hacked from Spinelli's system. Obviously it hadn't really happened but that meant that Talia had her doubts in the woman. They would all deserve honorary degrees in Psychology by the time they worked through this.

Sam heard the buzzer go off for the oven letting her know that the pizza was ready and went to get it. She wanted to know if Jason trusted Amber, then she would say something, hopefully a lot easier than she could talk now. Sam brought the pizza to the table and handed out some disposable plates she found in the cabinet and Kristina went to get everyone some bottled water from the fridge.

They were mid munch when Sam realized that they probably hadn't had a real meal in months. How were they eating since they were asleep? "How did we eat?" Sam asked the group, wondering if anyone knew. Leila pulled up her shirt to show off a bandage patched to the left of her stomach.

"I heard Dr. Drake call it a PEG tube." Amber piped in as she grabbed a piece of pizza too. Sam looked down at her own side. She didn't have one of those. "You has some tube thing in your nose though. Something about your stomach displaced because of the pregnancy." Amber explained. Sam wrinkled her nose, that just sounded gross.

They all ate quietly until Leila tapped Krissy's shoulder and motioned to the pad she had where she'd written something or drawn a picture and Sam saw Kristina nearly choke on her bite of pizza before she busted out laughing. Sam couldn't help but smile as she grabbed the pad to see what Leila had done. It said in large scribbly letters "At least that frat party never happened." She arched an eyebrow wondering when they'd dreamed of this little fiasco and what had happened.

The laughter was infectious as Sam shook her head, she couldn't get onto her little sister for doing something in her mind. Laughter filled the room as they went back and forth about all the craziness that had transpired but never really happened, touching on the lighter side of things while they ate, some speaking in broken words while others drew pictures or wrote out their messages, in the end paper littered the dining room and the pizza pan was left with varying degrees of discarded crust.

Sam looked up to see Jason standing in the doorway watching them, his hand scratching sleepily at the back of his neck while a hinted smile tugged at his lips. She smiled back, tiredly. "I hate to break up this party," He said softly, getting everyone's attention.

"Then don't." Sam smirked patting the last free seat beside her. Jason joined the room full of girls watching as they continued their walk down dreamy memory lane, remembering all the good things that far outnumbered the bad. It was hours later When Sam woke in Jason's arms in their room that she was able to ask him what she needed to.

Sam watched as his eyes blinked open, sleep lost at her subtle movements. "Morning," he whispered.

She mentally prepared herself for the difficulty of speech but was surprised to find that the words came easily. "Morning." She smiled thankful to be able to talk again. "Did you sleep alright?"

"A lot better now that you're next to me." He nodded. "What about you?"

"It's weird. You'd think I wouldn't need to sleep so much, considering I've been asleep for four months." Sam sighed. "I dream about where we were but it feels lonely now that it's just me in there."

"It has to be strange."

"Oh it is." She chuckled. "This is going to sound weird but do you trust Amber?"

Jason narrowed his eyes. "Where's this coming from?"

"In the dream, She helped Castillo find us at the cabin by hacking Spinelli's system. It's where Talia died. I know she means a lot to Talia, but that doubt came from Talia and if they're together and she thinks that she could betray her enough to get her killed then that says something. Not to mention that Amber knew about Deacon and I know that when Castillo told you about him it was the first you were hearing of him. I could see it in your eyes." Sam explained.

Jason raised up on his elbow obviously alarmed. "So you think she could still be working for Delphi?"

"I know she said that you guys were protecting her, that you saved her from Castillo and Delphi, but something isn't adding up and even her girlfriend has some compelling doubts. Deacon is Talia and Tamara's brother. He killed their mom, experimented on his sisters, he's a monster and Talia and Tamara risked everything to go back into his lions den because of Amber. What if it was a set up?"

"Then they have a person in our midst, ready to sell us out." Jason swallowed tightly, pushing himself to his feet, already grabbing for clothes.

"Don't call her out, Jason." Sam cautioned.

"I won't. I'll have Spinelli see about getting into her laptop and I'll keep an eye on her." Jason gave her the run down quickly.

"Not yet." Sam crawled across the bed, catching his hand in hers. Jason froze looking back at her over his shoulder. "I'm tired of playing with ghosts..."

"_I hate feeling like this...I'm so tired of trying to fight this...I'm asleep and all I dream of...Is waking to You...Tell me that You will listen...You're touch is what i'm missing...And the more I hide I realize I'm slowly losing You...Comatose...I'll never wake up without an overdose of You...I don't wanna live, I dont wanna breathe...'Les I feel you next to me...You take the pain I feel...waking up to you never felt so real..." _

Jason thumbed so delicately over her lips, his deadly hands nothing but loving and gentle for her. Her tongue parted the delicate swell as she pursed them ever so slightly against his thumb before she made up the distance between them and crashed against him, her lips capturing his. Jason wound his arms around her careful of the challenges and newness that her changing body provided him.

God, he'd missed her so much and he thought just being next to her, breathing her in, that time could slowly heal and they'd be able to get back to where they were, and Jason's thoughts were all over the place as a groan of wanton ecstasy escaped him. He'd wanted her from the first night they'd been able to sleep next to each other again and now...Sam was already working his boxers down his hips as he felt his fingers entangling with her hair, cupping her face as his knees met the mattress the both of them crashing on their side mid kiss.

Amber could wait...

"_I don't wanna sleep, I don't wanna dream...'Cause my dreams don't comfort me...The way You make me feel...Waking up to You never felt so real...I hate living without You...Dead wrong to ever doubt You...But my demons lay in waiting...Tempting me away...Oh how I adore You...Oh how I thirst for You...Oh how I need You...Comatose...I'll never wake up without an overdose of You...I don't wanna live, I dont wanna breathe...'Les I feel You next to me...You take the pain I feel...Waking up to You never felt so real." _

Kristina and Leila sat side by side on the flybridge watching as Ethan and Lucky shot the breeze at the helm. "I keep thinking he'll remember." Kristina whispered to Leila. Leila squeezed her hand. "But it never happened. We were never growing closer, never coming together." She sighed longingly.

"He came didn't he?" Leila pointed out trying to look on the bright side.

"Yeah but that was because his sister was in trouble." Kristina countered.

"Enough of that. At least he met you. No one here knows me." Leila chuckled giving her a playful elbow to the side.

"I know you." Kristina laughed. "I don't care if we met in a dream, you're still my best friend. And Sam and Lulu and Talia and Tamara – we'll all stand by you." She promised her.

"I knew I liked you for a reason." Leila smirked as she motioned to Ethan. "Where's that confidence about him?" She asked quietly. "Just because you haven't grown closer doesn't mean you can't, you just have to start over. Think of the dream like a trial run."

"_I don't wanna sleep, I don't wanna dream...'Cause my dreams don't comfort me...The way You make me feel...Waking up to You never felt so real...I hate living without You...Dead wrong to ever doubt You...But my demons lay in waiting...Tempting me away...Oh how I adore You...Oh how I thirst for You...Oh how I need You...Comatose...I'll never wake up without an overdose of You...I don't wanna live, I dont wanna breathe...'Les I feel You next to me...You take the pain I feel...Waking up to You never felt so real." _

Lulu looked at Robin in shock. This was not happening. This couldn't be happening. Dante stood at her side, hand slowly making circles at the small of her back as if that was somehow going to provide some sort of comfort. "It looks like your about six weeks along." She swallowed tightly as she watched the both of them closely. Lulu wasn't sure if she wanted to cry or scream.

"So someone raped me?" She whispered it out as tears slid down her cheeks. She felt Dante's hand stop against her back, not seeing that he'd balled his fist until his knuckles turned white.

"It's not clear whether it was implanted as part of the experiment or if it was rape, either way you were violated Lulu, I am so sorry." Robin explained, feeling sick herself.

"How could I sleep through something like that?" Lulu sobbed out as Dante pulled her into his arms, holding her.

He was going to kill these bastards, damn the badge, damn it all. "You were drugged, this is not your fault." he promised her.

"I don't wanna sleep, I don't wanna dream...'Cause my dreams don't comfort me...The way You make me feel...Waking up to You never felt so real...Oh how I adore You...Waking up to You never felt so real  
Oh how I thirst for You...Waking up to You never felt so real...Oh how I adore You...The way You make me feel...Waking up to You never felt so real"

Amber made her way down the hallway, checking over he shoulder several times as she headed to the Kristina and Leila's room. She needed to get a DNA sample from Kristina– a hair, something. Delphi needed post procedural data. She'd already gotten one from everyone else save Sam. She was so impatient for this assignment to be over. She was so tired of baby sitting Deacon's little sister.

"_Waking up to you never felt so real..." _

_Last song "Comatose" by Skillet_


	16. Bitter Breadcrumbs

**Force of Nature**

**It's Not Delivery it's DiGiorno, for those that were wondering :P**

**This is the last Chapter aside from an Epilogue. Thanks for reading and/or reviewing and I hope you guys thoroughly enjoy this update. **

**Bitter Breadcrumbs **

Sam looked into the mirror as she tucked the 9mm into the waist of her maternity jeans, feeling sleek metallic relief hugging the small of her back. There was so much going on, she didn't know which problematic thought to try and work through first.

Lulu.

Sam felt sick for her friend. She and Dante had such a hard road ahead of them. So many decisions. After extensive testing and comparison with DNA tests from research records they had taken from the rescue site Robin had discovered that Lulu had been apart of an experiment testing the effects of pregnancy implantation instigated while in a dream state and the body and mind's ability to accept it. The baby was one of the other patients. A man named Eric Halvers who had died as a result of another experiment.

Sam and Lulu had talked about the injustice, the horrors of it all and no matter how much she could sympathize with Lulu she knew that she would never truly know what her friend was going through. Sam was having the love of her life's baby and she's been able to get used to that for months, but Lulu had woken from hell to find out that she'd been artificially inseminated against her will and that the father had no more say in it than she did. The only ones she could hate for it was the Delphi institute and the many harbingers of their atrocities.

Sam was glad that Dante was taking it so well. He vowed to raise the baby as his own if that's what Lulu wanted. Lulu was still trying to come to terms with what to do and Sam could see the dilemma. On the one hand she could have an abortion but it was something that she didn't want to entertain again, not yet. Still she didn't want to have the baby as an homage to a man she never met or out of some sense of guilt that she never should have had. She had to be able to see past the wrong to the life in her hands and realize that she had the love and desire to be his or her mother and it was going to take time, love, and lots of support for Lulu to get there.

Sam could already see it though, Lulu wanted to give herself permission to love the life growing inside her and she knew that she would find away.

Amber, was a whole other story. She was one of the problematic thoughts that was giving Sam a headache. Spinelli found more than enough evidence to hang a noose around Amber's neck, linking her to the Delphi Institute after he got more access to her laptop. She had been very careful, but once Spinelli had some inkling of what he was looking for he peeled her security apart at the seams. Likewise Jason had found that she was using a disposable cell to text someone at Delphi. She had a drop that she needed to make once they landed in Raleigh, North Carolina.

It was a refueling stop on the way to New York and they had a service engine warning that would have them taking an over night lay over so that the mechanics could sort out the problem. That was the cover story anyway. Talia, Tamara, Leila, and Kristina were in the dark, because of fear that the truth could get leaked to Amber and dismantle the whole plan.

Sam looked up as Jason made his way to the doorway then paused, leaning against the door frame as he met her eyes in the mirror while folding his arms across his chest. He bore a disheartened expression as he recognized the unwavering resolve that he found in that one glance. "I still don't like this."

"We're not fighting about it again." Sam smiled softly and she could see he softened a smidge. "I'm going." And it was final.

"I want you to stay with me and Sonny, away from the explosives." He said as she tucked her shirt over the gun, hiding it from sight.

"I wouldn't want to be anywhere else." She said as Jason and Sonny's part of this plan put her in direct contact with Deacon and all the assholes responsible for this insanity. "Did Ethan get the Security badges ?"

Sam had discovered when she finally was with it long enough to remember to ask about Luke that he was undercover inside the Delphi's home office complex. He'd found that the bulk of their research was stored on the mainframe there, so even if they hit every illegal shell they had all over the world, the research would still survive. It would be pointless to take them out if the research could be used to recreate the experiments by another organization that lacked the moral or ethical scruples of humanity.

Luke had been going through everything in the system at Delphi and making sure that he saved what little Delphi had that was actually useful to the mainstream public in dire medical need. He also had it on good authority that there was a midnight meeting of the board of trustees to discuss their dirty deeds occurring in conjunction with the scheduled layover in Raleigh. The plan was simple. Dante and Lucky were to keep an eye on Talia, Tamara, Leila, Kristina, and Lulu so as they could claim plausible deniability in the event of any problems occurring with the police. Luckily they both felt more protective than vengeful at the moment. The same couldn't be said for Ethan and Nicholas who were on the war path. It wasn't enough that their sister had been kidnapped and forced into a coma for 4 months? Oh no, she'd been experimented on and impregnated. Luke hadn't been informed just yet as their was limited communication and well, no one was really sure how he might go off.

"Yeah, he got them when we docked in Tortuguero." Jason nodded. Sam nodded. It had been weeks of sailing before they had docked in Costa Rica and then hopped Nik's jet back to the States. It was a good thing they took the time, it had given Sam and the others a chance to recoup. Their brain mapping had returned to normal according to Patrick and boy could Sam feel the difference, everything seemed easier than it had when she'd first woken. "Sam, please reconsider."

Sam turned to face him here heart bore in brimmed tears and quivering lips, despite her jaw set in iron resolve. It was a conflict of emotions that eluded to the truth they both acknowledged. Yes it was dangerous and while she wouldn't have gone into this knowingly pregnant, she couldn't not see this finished. Sam knew in the end that the only way she could truly get past everything was to get the closure she so desperately needed and there was only one way that was going to happen. She had to go on this last mission, pregnant or not. "Jason, I have to do this." Sam whispered, looking away just as tear slipped down her cheek even as she fought breaking down into tears again.

Jason let it drop for the last time and crossed the distance between them to capture her in his arms. "I know you need this. I do, Sam. I just, I want to keep you and the baby safe." Jason breathed against her ear as she embraced him as well.

"We will protect each other, Jason. Just like we always do and when this is all said and done, we're walking out of there a family." Sam promised him as their lips met in a tangle of unity.

**ZZZZZZZZZZZZ**

Sam headed to her seat as they were about to land, only an hour to midnight to get everything in order. She smiled finding Kristina, Leila and Ethan all having a great time with a game of cards as the last call came to get buckled in and they groaned that they had to cut it short. She had watched Kristina and Ethan growing closer and closer and she knew exactly what it was about. She'd seen the way they looked at each other in the dream and even Ethan was only a ghost there it wasn't just Kristina's perception of him that had been fed in, Lulu had to be taken into account as well.

Lulu had already told Sam that Ethan had feelings for Kristina before her sister had been kidnapped. She knew he hadn't just come to save his sister. Sam sank into her seat and fastened the buckle as best she could just in time for Amber to sink into the seat beside her. Sam forced herself to maintain, knowing she couldn't tip the hacker off. Talia sank into the third seat in the row and the two worked to get buckled before grasping hands. Sam swallowed the anger and looked out the window.

That bitch. She wished she could tell Talia that her girlfriend was conning her. But then maybe it was better that she never found out, maybe it was better if she simply disappeared. No, Sam knew she would have to tell her, when it was all said and done and she may hate her by then. "You ready to sleep in a real bed?" Amber asked her with a smirk as they started their descent.

"Oh Yeah." Sam nodded as she caught Talia's eye.

"We are too." Talia waggled her eyebrows suggestively and Sam felt her heart breaking for her friend. She wanted to choke Amber right then and there, but she couldn't. They needed her to wade waist deep into the home office so that they could take care of the whole problem in one fell swoop. More importantly the needed Amber to not warn her boss.

The landing went smooth, the relocation to the hotel, smoother and soon Sam found herself starring at a black duffel of equipment, now dressed all in black maternity pants and shoes, a black maternity top and readjusting her gun in place. Jason was across from her, adjusting a knife in the strap on his ankle."Why don't they make respectable stealthy clothes for pregnant women?" She asked teasingly as she chuckled at herself in the mirror.

Jason couldn't help but offer a chuckle as he looked up to see what she meant. The top was a little more ruffled than Sam usually went for. "What are you talking about? That's perfectly respectable."

Sam narrowed her eyes at him, knowing he was teasing her. "I look like I'm headed to a party, not a company invasion."

"As long as you can move." Jason said more seriously.

"That's a yeah." Sam nodded.

"Then we're good."

Sam tucked her gloved into her side pocket along with her security care and started to grab the duffel, but Jason intercepted and shouldered the bag without saying a word. "You can't stop me from carrying everything." She chuckled at him.

Jason turned walking backwards to the door and relented with a smirk. "You're right." He tossed her the car keys. "There ya go." he said as he turned back around moving at a faster pace. "You can drive."

Jason's hand was barely on the knob when the power went down.

"That's the cue." Sam called as they headed out into the hallway, Jason manning the flashlight in front of her. The security cameras were off line and so was just about everything else including the traffic cameras on the way too and from the Delphi building. The trip to the black SUV in the back wasn't that long and they met up with Sonny and Max there. Sam tossed Max the keys knowing he was the better driver and they peeled out into the blackened night.

**ZZZZZZZZZZZZ**

Spinelli moved between Ethan and Nicholas, hugging his laptop and equipment bag to his chest as they moved. Ethan and Nicholas were weighed down with a duffel on each shoulder. They were going in the back, heading to the mainframe where Spinelli had to crash the whole network so that they were sure that they had taken out all the remaining research. Luke, Ethan and Nicholas had to set the charges so that afterward they could blow the whole building.

They already had it set up to look like some form of domestic terrorism with a nasty little group to blame instead of the actual multi-person hit that it was. The whole reason that the trustees had midnight meetings was to make sure they were alone in the building, even the night security and janitors had the night off. Ethan checked his watch and then smirked when the door was suddenly flung open, revealing Luke.

"Welcome to the party, Gents." He smiled waving them in just as the light began to spring back to life. The security was already breached and taken care of thanks to careful snooping via Spinelli in Amber's system.

"Here's the C-4 you ordered, Pops," Ethan chuckled as he unshouldered one of the duffels and handed it to Luke.

Luke made a face in mock shock. "And I didn't bring anything for you...guess you'll just have to settle for the fireworks."

**ZZZZZZZZZZZZ**

Jason slid his pass through the card swipe and opened the side door, letting Sonny, Max and Sam in before he followed them into the stairwell. He looked up the flights that they had to scale and frowned at Sam, worried about the six story climb on her delicate condition. "Sam, are you sure..." Jason started but Sam cut him off.

"I'm fine." She pushed past Sonny and started up the stairs as the lead as if to prove the point. Sonny looked back at Jason with a shake of his head as they all followed suit. Amber and the trustees were already in the building and they were about to crash the party. Jason grabbed a whole handful of zip ties from his bag as the moved up flight after flight of the large building to the top floor.

They came out on the board room level and moved quietly as a team on the look out for personal security. For while the building security had the night off, a few of the twelve trustees had their own personal guys. Sam let Sonny and Max take the lead again as she and Jason branched off so that they could surround the board room through both entrances. Jason screwed a silencer onto his gun as they moved.

They were just about to round the corner to get to one of the entrances of the board room when a mountain of a guy stepped around the corner and quickly took aim, calling out "Drop it!" As he got the drop on them. Jason was at a loss in mid turn of the screw, still working the silencer on and he was forced to drop the gun in order to keep the both of them from getting shot. "Hand where I can see them."

Sam knew Jason had another gun tucked against the small of his back and as she acted like she was going to comply she suddenly reached for it managing to catch the guy by surprise as she angled the shot between her and Jason and felled the guy on the first round. He took a bullet to the head and Jason grabbed his fallen gun with a look of pride as they moved in a surge to reclaim what ground they lost as they burst through the board room doors and took aim at anyone who might attempt to run, just as Sonny and Max burst through the other door, the exits now covered.

Deacon sat at the head of the table convening over the twelve other members, one of which was Amber. The room was devoid of much else save the large mahogany table and the deep expanse of windows that served as a wall behind Deacon. Everyone seemed fully taken off guard, save Deacon who put on a brave face.

"Welcome. I suppose you have a complaint?" He asked as though he had confidence that all was well. It was a false sense but it was there none the less. Jason threw a handful of zip ties onto the table, everyone secure your right wrist to the arm rest of your chair." he ordered without answering the question even as Sam scoffed, taking it from there.

"I've got more than a complaint." She shot back. She caught a glimpse of the other faces that were starring back in a mix of fear and shock, something that their dollars had put her and all of her friends through the last four months. "I have a solution."

"Really? I would love to hear it, but what is it that you are proposing a solution for?" Deacon asked calmly making no move to grab a tie.

"Do as asked or you'll never know." Sam offered. Deacon reluctantly complied and zip tied his right wrist to the arm rest of his chair.

"Max, take care of the rest." Sonny ordered as he helped Jason and Sam keep a watchful eye on the executives. Max gave a nod and quickly went to secure the left wrists to the other arm rest. He made his way around the room as Deacon looked back up at Sam once more.

"I did as asked." He replied finally. "Why are you here and what's it going to take to make you go away? We have business to get to." He explained.

"Not anymore." She kept her aim as long as Max was working on getting everyone secured. "We're here to put an end to your regime of terror against the poor unsuspecting populous that you manage to get your hands on through human trafficking."

An uproar went through the room as trustees began to protest involvement and shock even Amber looked confounded. It was so loud that Jason had to let out a loud whistle to gain everyone's attention again. "Stop playing dumb. We have enough background on every single one of you to know exactly who is involved in what with the company. There isn't an innocent person seated in this room." Jason called out. That brought everyone into a more terror ridden silence.

"I was kidnapped four months ago, trafficked and sold to your company so that a dream state experiment could be performed. I wasn't alone though. Five other woman that I knew and countless others were taken as well."

Deacon chuckled. "I'm sure you have no proof."

Sam frowned as Jason took over for her. "I think you misunderstand what this meeting is truly about." He explained giving Sam a chance to regain her point.

"We were left in a coma some of us experimented on further while we slept. We were violated and used and vowed that it would never happen again." Sam waited for Max to get the last zip tie in place before she went on. "So none of you will leave this building alive."

Another uproar bore with pleading but Sonny screamed out to calm them down. "Shut up!"

Deacon yelled over the screaming to be heard, finally gaining the room's attention. "There is no way to get away with this." He promised them all. "Prison, death sentences, if you kill a whole board room, security will have all your pictures to the police in a heartbeat!"

"Call up security." Jason dared him and when he balked he scoffed. "Security has the night off and we own the system." He promised him. "This is checkmate and you are going to listen now."

Sam took a step forward at that. "This is retribution for years of torture that many have had to endure. You will no longer be able to profit off of others suffering and all research generated from your endeavors are about to be lost as well. Congratulations guys, this is your life!" She called and watched as Amber struggled to wriggle her way to half standing.

"Sam, wait!" She called.

"Amber, save your breath. You betrayed Deacon's sisters, more victims, and you never showed any remorse. You led Talia and Tamara into Deacon's trap. It's over. We did all we could for you." Sam whispered out sickened by what Amber had done.

It was Sonny's turn as he looked to Deacon. "You took the wrong girls, My daughter, her friend." Sonny said in a rage. "This reckoning has been a long time coming." he promised him and then for everyone else. "All of you, you sat back and let this happen, voted on it. This ends now!"

"Guys!" Jason called reminding them of the time, they were on a schedule.

"Just sit back and enjoy the end." Sonny called as they backed out of the room at a quick pace.

"_This is my winter song to you...The storm is coming soon...it rolls in from the sea...My voice; a beacon in the night...My words will be your light...to carry you to me...Is love alive?...Is love alive?...Is love..."  
_

Luke, Ethan, Spinelli, and Nicholas walked out the back, the network damned and the building wired. All looked back as they made their way save Luke until they were situated in the SUV and slowly making their way away, waiting for confirmation that the rest of their team was out of the building.

On the sixth floor a gaggle of board executives that made the lives of those they deemed less worthy to live as expendable floundered, trying to wheel their chairs toward the elevators as if they might possibly escape.

_"They say that things just cannot grow...beneath the winter snow...or so I have been told...They say were buried far...just like a distant star...I simply cannot hold...Is love alive?...Is love alive?...Is love alive?"  
_

Jason pulled Sam to him in the back seat of the other SUV as they both looked behind them to the building beyond while Max pulled them away onto the street ahead. The other SUV pulled up along side them just as the world exploded in a deafening roar of fire and twisted metal, the whole of the Delphi empire burning to ashes as they made their escape.

_"This is my winter song...December never felt so wrong...cause you're not where you belong...inside my arms...I still believe in summer days...The seasons always change...and life will find a way..."  
_

Dante pulled Lulu into his arms as they watched the skyline from their hotel room, seeing the explosion in waves of closure as they realized that all the threats that loomed over them were now gone. He kissed her head, vowing to make this right any way he could.

_"Ill be your harvester of light...and send it out tonight...so we can start again...Is love alive?...Is love alive?...Is love alive?...This is my winter song...December never felt so wrong...cause you're not where you belong...inside my arms..."  
_

Talia, Tamara, Kristina and Leila gasped in shock as an explosion rocked the night sky and they raced to the windows to get a better look, wondering what in the world was going on. Lucky rose from his chair in horror. He knew it was coming, but it was worse than he expected. God, it had to happen, but damn.

_"This is my winter song to you...The storm is coming soon...it rolls in from the sea...My love a beacon in the night...My words will be your light...to carry you to me..." _

Jason felt Sam's sob against his chest as she watched the night burn, their past horrors consumed in the fire making way for a safe future for her and her loved ones and friends, even their baby, at least from this one terrible threat.

"_Is love alive?" _

_-Last song " Winter Song" by Sara Bareilles. _


	17. Epilogue

**Force of Nature**

**Set four years after the close of Force...If you like to listen to music for updates the song used in this one and I highly recommend listening to it while reading is " Next to me" by Civic Twilight. **

**Love all you guys! I hope you enjoy :)**

**Epilogue**

"_You are my only escape...you are the reason that I wait...on the corner of this empty street...Oh I just can't wait to meet..." _

"Des!" Lulu came around the corner of the vestibule hitching up her dress skirt in an attempt to catch her little one as she carried a little bear pillow tucked to her chest. "Des!" It was a trial of wills and disappointments as Desmond had discovered that he wasn't supposed to be the ring bear but the ring bearer. Thus the compromise of the bear pillow to set the rings on.

Dante swore he got him in his suit, now they just had to find him. Lulu came through the courtyard door of the church and found her little boy sitting under a tree on his hands and knees trying to coax a squirrel out of the hole in the bottom of the tree. "Des!"

"I a'most got'em." He cried in frustration.

"Des, it's time!" Lulu called as she caught his arm and pulled him up into her arms for an irritated kiss as she handed him the pillow and he brightened remembering how important he was to the ceremony. He looked absolutely adorable in his little tux and he was so happy to learn that it was time to play his part. "Remember what we rehearsed." She told him with a big kiss on the cheek as she set him down at the front of the line up.

"_There's so much a man can do...there's so much a man can say...See I have done so many things wrong...that you should've thrown me away..."_

Ava looked at Desmond with a smirk as they lined up together to walk. "I gots flowers." She told him matter of factly as if to shame him with her own importance. As if to prove the point she held up her little white basket and showed him the ample pile of pink and red rose petals that filled the whole of the white basket she held in her hands.

"I gots a bear." Desmond countered showing off his bear pillow the rings flopping against the strings that held them to the pillow. Ava huffed at that and turned her nose up, trying to hide her disappointment that he had an animal. She wanted a bear! Why was she stuck with the flowers? "And I gets to walk first."

Ava scrunched up her nose and then stuck her tongue out in protest. "I gets to walk in front of Mommy!" Ava replied. "And she's the bride so pooh!"

"Shhhh!" Leila turned from her place as bridesmaid next to Lulu to shush the little bickering going on from the terrible duo.

"Hey they're fine!" Talia chuckled up from in front of her.

"They're cute." Tamara corrected her.

"They're precious." Kristina added in glee as she readied to head down the aisle arm and arm with Ethan.

"They're a handful," Lulu laughed as Dante took her arm.

"_I've got this second chance, I'm gonna take it...I've got this song and dance...I'm gonna take it...I've got all that I need...and I can taste it...I've got you next to me and I don't wanna waste it..."_

"Why are you nervous?" Sam adjusted her arm in sync with Spinelli's as she looked to the line of people ahead of her, including her daughter and Lulu's son bickering over who was the best at the moment. "I'm the one getting married." She hadn't had anyone to give her away and as Sonny as Jason's best man she wanted Spinelli to feel like he was important and he was. If it wasn't for him she may have never been able to wake up...so who better to walk her sown the aisle?

"It's just the crowd, Goddess." He replied as he patter her hand reassuringly with his much clammier one. Sam smiled graciously as she looked to Spinelli.

"You'll do fine." She promised him as she leaned in and kissed his cheek. "I believe in you."

"I should be the one reassuring you, Fair Samantha." He said as he came away smiling and Sam patted his hand with her own.

Sam spotted her mother in the front row with Mac smiling back at her and smiled back with a little wave as the music started up and she reassured Spinelli. "You have, Damien." She whispered.

"_You are my only embrace...You are the light that lights my face...any fool would do the same...to follow in your trace..." _

Jason watched the processional as the bridesmaids and groomsmen made their way up followed by Lulu as Sam's Maid of Honor who Dante had passed off to Sonny Jason's best man. He watched as Desmond flourished down the aisle sauntering like he owned the place and then Ava...

Jason felt tears spring to his eyes for the first time as he watched his beautiful daughter head down the aisle meticulously placing one petal at a time as she took one step and then another...all the while posing for every photo flash with a bright smile. He couldn't help but light up and still they hadn't gotten to the best part.

Jason watched as Ava got to her place next to Lulu and he turned back just in time to see...Sam.

"_And people come and people go...And I know I should have been replaced...I know it..." _

Sam watched as Ava went before her like the little princess she was so proud of her daughter and then she found him, their eyes meeting as it was her time to walk down the aisle, the music changing as Spinelli nervously walked arm and arm with her, but Sam was absent to all but Jason in that one moment. Her heart was attuned only to his.

He was her everything, just as Ava was and there was nothing that could compare to the actuality of everyone else knowing exactly what was in their hearts. It was enough to know it between the two of them but to be celebrated by all their family and friends...Sam was fighting tears...She was so happy.

The past was a distant memory lost after retribution.

"_I've got this second chance, I'm gonna take it...I've got this song and dance...I'm gonna take it...I've got all that I need...and I can taste it...I've got you next to me and I don't wanna waste it..."_

"I, Jason, take you, Sam, to be my partner, loving what I know of you, and trusting what I have yet to learn of you. I eagerly anticipate the chance to grow together, getting to know the woman you will become, and falling in love a little more each day. I promise to love and cherish you through out whatever life may bring us..."

"I, Sam, take you, Jason, to be my partner, my partner in life and my one true love. I will cherish our union and love you more each day than I did the day before. I will trust you and respect you, laugh with you and cry with you, Loving you faithfully through good times and bad, regardless of the obstacles we may face together. I give you my hand, my heart, my love, from this day forward as long as we both shall live."

"_I'm gonna take it in all that I can get...I'm gonna take it..It's beautiful the way you love..." _

"You may kiss the bride!"

"_I've got this second chance...I'm gonna take it!" _


End file.
